Businesses urged to use free service

THE HEAD of Business Link Northwest is urging small and medium sized businesses to continue making use of its free service while ministers decide on the future shape of government business support.

The coalition government is currently reviewing the delivery of government business support as part of its commitment to replacing Regional Development Agencies with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) from April 2012.

Peter Watson, managing director of Business Link Northwest, said until any new proposals are finalised, Business Link Northwest remains the region’s free and impartial business support service and will continue to offer the same high-level of support to business owners.

Business Link Northwest is continuing to deliver its core services with a reduced budget level, having already achieved significant operational savings.

Mr Watson said: “We know there will be changes to the delivery of government business support and a white paper will be released in the autumn setting out the coalition’s proposals in more detail.

“Until such plans have been revealed and approved, with a timetable for transition, Business Link will continue to offer support to North West companies. We are very much open for business and have a wealth of expertise here waiting to help businesses get growing again.”

Mr Watson said the organisation’s telephone and face-to-face advisers continue to work with existing businesses across the region and free and impartial advice is still available for those looking to start their own business. The Business Link Northwest website is also packed full of information and ‘how to’ guides on a full-range of business issues, he added.

In the 12-months to March 31, 2010, Business Link Northwest engaged with over 97,000 businesses via phone and through its website, and actively assisted almost 10,000 businesses through its health check and action plan service. The Business Link Northwest service currently has a customer satisfaction rating of 94 per cent.