The future of Business Link is still uncertain with the regional development agencies that help fund the government advice service falling victim to swingeing spending cuts.
FreshBusinessThinking.com reported last week that the small-business advice service, which costs the taxpayer £35 million a year, was destined for dismantling given the small-business minister, Mark Prisk, had hinted as much before the election.
However, the website has today admitted it might have been premature in writing off the government advice service.
A source at the Northwest Development Agency, which funds North West Business Link to the tune of £18m a year, apparently told the Liverpool Daily Post: "This is premature. A report is being done into Business Link over the next four weeks and as far as we are aware no decision has yet been made."
Business Link has been labelled a costly failure by critics and has already been axed in the north-west with branches set to close in both Dorset and the West Midlands
Funded by HM Revenue and Customs, Business Link has been labelled a costly failure by critics and has already been axed in the north-west with branches set to close in both Dorset and the West Midlands.
However, the chief executive of a private-sector rival defended the north-west Business Link branch set for the axe. Phil Orford of the Forum for Private Business said: "I think it's fair to say some Business Links, for example the North West, have done a good job.”
However, Orford senses an opportunity for organisations such as his own to grow and fill the void left by Business Link. “When you look at the steep costs involved in running them you've got to ask whether or not they are sustainable in the current climate.
"We at the Forum don't want to see anything which helps small businesses being taken away. However, we would argue that SMEs can get everything Business Link currently provides through private and third-sector support organisations like the Forum, with the added advantage of choice."
Former entrepreneur Prisk’s pre-election comments suggest he favours making Business Link a purely online service, which he believes would be both cheaper to run and serve business owners better: “We can deliver a lot more online and make better use of private providers,” he says. “The vast majority of private businesses don’t use public services [for advice]. We need a 21st century approach to business support.”
A purely online service could be accessible via desktops, mobile phones and supported by a call centre.
Tony Heywood, CEO of Yoodoo.biz, comments on the failure of Business Link and the how the coalition government can improve the service. “The online offer needs to go much further than Business Link’s remit,” he says. “Seventeen million people in Britain have the aspirations to start a business – especially within key target areas such as ethnic minorities and young women – and Business Link touched very few of this latent pool of business talent.”
Continuing, he adds: “The online replacement must appeal to everyone, [it must] be open, optimistic and fun, not starchy or buttoned up. The tie needs to come off.
“Business Link’s online replacement must engage with the multitude of good ideas people have. That means tailored and personalised advice. Using online services is not an excuse for a ‘one size fits all’ attitude.”
