Comments on: Tories announce plans to scrap Business Link

By: Gerry Chimedza

Gerry Chimedza — Sun, 23 May 2010 14:45:38 +0000

I currently work for Business Link in the South East of England and I am strongly against the Torries plans to scrap the service. As I work in the frontline I encounter numerous business seeking help and advice to grow thier businesses. With current climate and banks not willing to readily lend to SME’s they have to find alternative ways to grow – and that where Business Link comes into the equation.Unemployment is high and as a result if the government cannot provide support to these businesses a lot will go out of business which will in turn put even more presure on the benefits system. I also speak dozens of people who are refered to Business Link by the Job Centres who majority have been made redundant. As they need income they are encouraged to go self employed and we advise such people on how to do and encourage and provide them with tools they need to succeed. Personally I have spoken to people who where at that stage and have now flourished to become established business thanks to support and advise we provide. As such companies grows they will in turn employ people and in the long run reduce unemployment in this counrty. Secondly in this current climate what SME can afford to pay consultancy fee’s when they can barley manage their cashflow. That is what our leaders need to consider as well before cutting the service that we provide.

By: Graham Robinson

Graham Robinson — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:31:00 +0000

Having attended my first enterprise day run by Business Link today, i have to say that i was very disappointed with what i experienced. I sat with an advisor for 15 minutes and it soon became obvious that she had no idea of what i was talking about, no advice was forthcoming. i was left with the feeling that she was just there

By: Barbara Stewart

Barbara Stewart — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:31:16 +0000

The last time the Tories were in power they wasted million of pounds paying local groups to provide training etc. that in our experience provided poor value. Our complaints about the quality of the training we received were dismissed. Now we only use further education colleges or universities for our training where our complaints cannot be dismissed and there is a process which can be improve the quality or compensate us for wasting our time. No assurances government can give will ever encourage us to use local suppliers/advisors ever again.

By: Neil Davey

Neil Davey — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:31:34 +0000

Re the comment by Susan Chapman about ‘Enterprise Agencies always seem for the big boys’. It’s exactly the opposite; EAs were set up to deal with SMEs and Business Link to deal with larger businesses and to offer specialist services. SMEs, particularly pre-starts, need 1-2-1 face to face advice from an accredited advisor with a business background, not civil servants.

By: Mike Horlock

Mike Horlock — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:31:50 +0000

I think it is time for the professional organisations to be involved in deciding business support. As a member of the Institute of Business Consultants I think they should help in setting up a structure that helps small businesses. As a person who is a member and outside of the Business Link network I spend a lot of time on business start-up and most people I encounter find that some of the Business Links are unhelpfull. Start-up businesses need help from people who have already run their own business whereas a lot of the people within Business Links are either ex bank employees or from a large organisation background.

By: Susan Chapman

Susan Chapman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:32:05 +0000

I believe that this would be bad, they are not perfect but do give a point of contact when a small business has a problem, and sorts out someone to talk to with an independant view. This often enables people to see where they are going wrong. The website has brought many details on compliance together and saves time for people who run thier own business as well as working in it. Enterprise Agencys always seemed for the big boys!!!

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:32:23 +0000

I have found Business Link to be very difficult to work with in the past. Now I just don’t bother. They are inefficient, ineffective and very frustrating to deal with.

By: Jerry Bennett

Jerry Bennett — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:32:46 +0000

Business Link is a typical bureaucracy, with a few good parts and a lot of pretty useless dead wood. The good bits are first, many of their advisers, and secondly, the website. The rest can go, and the sooner the better. I suspect the best advisers will be used by the Enterprise Agencies, who should have more work to take on, probably as self-employed consultants. This more local delivery will get back to the “Business in the Community” ethos that has been so badly eroded by Government control and funding. In my County (Cumbria), all the Enterprise Agencies are still managing a variety of initiatives, in conjunction with local councils, that BL would never have delivered. Local provision will also improve start-up support substantially – currently the worst it has been for 20 years. As for the website, I have reservations about Mr. Prisk’s solution. It needs a dedicated team to keep it up-to-date, and should not be subsumed into a larger organisation, where it might lose identity. Dare I suggest Cobweb as a possible future home?

By: Martin Barrett

Martin Barrett — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:33:27 +0000

Scrap Business Link? Very good idea. Nearly £200Million pa? Waste. Time to bugger off and lets get real support. MB

By: Graham Jessop

Graham Jessop — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:33:00 +0000

This reminds me of Vyvian from the Young Ones in the first episode, when he is saying how he disposed of the things in the house that he had to look after. Vyvian had to look after the Sausages, plants and goldfish. Neil says, Yeah Vyvian and what did we have for tea on the first day in the flat? And Vyvian says ‘Sausages and plants and goldfish, I’ve disposed of my responsibilities Neil’. Love the idea of giving this job to Prisk and his first thought is to get rid of his responsibilities. It makes you realise how the rest of his time in government is going to pan out if they get in. It probably does need some streamlining, but to get rid of it would be madness.