12 comments so far:

Jahanara Monaf (17 Mar 2010)

Labour are only saying about support for women and will keep business link going only to win votes. Labour is not a leadership party. Once they are re-elected things will change rapidly. Business Link disappearing or staying will not mean a lot to me and my business. They were my first port of call before and after starting business and have never had a support or response from them. Business Link and any government initiative is RUBBISH. If Labour want to help businesses they should try cutting taxes as at the moment they are killing us and the working in all directions. The unemployed are better off.

Albert Wright (16 Mar 2010)

I have heard Lord Davies announce his support for women and wish to see more women in business 3 times in the last 6 months. Why then have the Government stopped funding PROWESS?

Katrina Atherton (16 Mar 2010)

I'm a young person, a female and I run my own business. I have received help from Business Link but I just took it as advice and didn't base my whole business plan around what the advisers said as I think it's always better to get a wide range of opinions. However, I must say that without Business Link I don't think we would have grown as quickly as we have. In terms on the 'Enterprise Champion' I've seen this put in place, and whilst it's a good idea I think whoever gets the role uses it more for marketing their business, and how are they chosen, is it really fair? I don't think one person chosen by Business Link should be appointed as a role model for women and young people because no one person can appeal to such a wide range of interests and skills.

Lynne Pearson (15 Mar 2010)

I have mixed views about Business Link. I had great advice & help when operating in Norfolk, good advice in Cambs, but the advisors who were sent to advise me when I started my online business in Lincs was appalling. My business was a disaster partly due to being encouraged to do things too early; the IT advisor was 70 years old (not wanting to be ageist; I'm not young myself, but his knowledge was hopelessly out of date) The business advisor had recently had a breakdown and used to shake continually during our meetings. This was due to the stress of his business partner having taken all funds from their business, leaving him with £160k of debt. And he was advising me?? As soon as the advisors are more experienced & stable than me, I'll ask for more help & give my support. Sorry but I'll reserve judgement & seek advice elsewhere until then.

James (14 Mar 2010)

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'. - Ronald Reagan

Catherine Gilsenan (12 Mar 2010)

The advice and assistance provided by Business Link is very patchy. There does not seem to consistent advice for freelancers offering a professional business service like myself. It is also extremely difficult to access the tendering websites.

SarahJane (12 Mar 2010)

I have been involved in running a small business for the last 20 years. This has been in various guises from manufacturing to web retail. During this time I have requested the advice & services of Business Link on several occasions. My experiences have left me with the conviction that there are agencies available which offer a better service, often cheaper and with more positive results. Most consultants I have encountered via Business Link have become unemployed from their profession and discover that consultancy work for Business Link is relaiable and lucrative. Beware Labour's offers - they might be selling you a flat battery!

Emma Smith (11 Mar 2010)

To qualify my position, I am a business adviser independent of Business Link. I am also a small business owner. I am not anti- Business Link. Whilst acknowledging that not everyone has had a good experience with them, there are however some really experienced business advisers in Business Link here in the Southwest. The Businesslink website is good too. I am not saying Businesslink should be scrapped, but it is admin top heavy, seems to have moved too far in the direction of 'brokering' as opposed to directly advising, and cannot always give the necessary intensive support to those who are particularly disadvantaged and/or have specialist needs. Many of my clients fall into the latter category and I know full well that many of them would either feel unable to approach Business Link or are unable to gain enough support from the current business advice model there. Consequently, I think the idea of starving enterprise agencies, who are well placed to support their local communities, of funds to turn Business Link into a one-stop shop is a very bad one - the chances of it serving all sectors of the community well are low. Also - ref the female entrepreneurship -speaking as a woman, I'd much rather have a well funded local enterprise agency. I'd want a human being I could go chat my business issues through (male or female adviser absolutely fine) and to get solid answers without having to be re-referred elsewhere and/or be able to access relevant training and networking. I'd consider that infinitely more useful than having a 'Best of British' ladies in business website or some female Enterprise champion paraded in front of me, anyway!

D Clarke (11 Mar 2010)

So labour will provide more support and help for female entrepreneurs is this to follow on from harriet harman championing the same over 3 years ago which came to nothing! Or is it enough to put it out there labour will do x y z then not do it but to those who do not wish to take this up the belief is it exists when in reality it was just more spin. This would not encourage me to vote labour. I have used Business link.

Carole Allen (11 Mar 2010)

Labour have had many years to get Business Link right and still not succeeded. More reorganisations are just about to happen - yet again. Perhaps scrapping and starting from scratch, rethinking purpose and objectives, and refocusing on genuine outcomes rather than fanciful ideas of what should / could be achieved as opposed to reality might be a sounder approach.

Joan Yeadon (11 Mar 2010)

I have to question Business Link's claims regarding the effectiveness of the support it provides. I suspect that the statistics are derived from the evaluation forms that participants are asked to complete at the end of the meeting which ask for the participant's estimate of how much turnover will increase as a result of attending, for example. As well as being of dubious validity, some of the questions do not comply with the Data Protection Act.

Neil Davey (11 Mar 2010)

As above, the 'one stop shop', was first mooted in 1995 but it still failed to address a number of issues for pre-start/start-up and growing SMEs. The market was and still is very confusing for these people as it seems every man and his dog is supposedly offering 'business advice'. One to one advisers are needed, not a remote phone call for 5 minutes, in other words what the enterprise agencies were set up to do but were let down by access to the necessary funding to meet their goals. Business Link absorbed a lot of this funding without passing it on and the mooting of the 'Small Business Service' muddied the waters even more when it was titled 'Business Link', an organisation that at that time was unpopular with many small businesses. In the meantime many enterprise agencies have ceased to function, depriving their natural clients of the support and advice they want and need.

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