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Paper Chase for Grants Must End Says Business

Release Date: 14 September 2007

The paper chase that firms are obliged to follow to seek grants must end, the West Midlands regional business community has declared.

The West Midlands Business Council today proposed a number of measures to improve publicly funded business support services that are offered to micro, small and medium sized businesses in response to the Government consultation on the future of business support.

West Midlands Business Council’s Business Support Working Group Chairman – and a member of the CBI’s SME Council – Peter Wall – said:

“Publicly funded business support programmes should focus on helping with the development of smaller businesses”.

“However, a plethora of Government schemes has led to firms needing to follow a paper chase of grants instead of where the real action should be – the chase to successful growth”.

“In our submission to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s consultation we urge the Government to use public money wisely on business support”.

“Our proposals include:

• Developing further specialist business support advice services for firms in different business sectors;
• Business Relationship Manager needed for continuity of business support;
• Business support fitting the needs of different sizes of business – not one size fits all;
• To decide on how to focus funds for intensive business support by ensuring the fundamentals in any particular business is sound;
• The single access point for business support services should also signpost to private sector sources of business support.

“Frequent changes in publicly funded business support schemes have undermined business confidence”.

“That is why we have told the Government that any changes they want to follow through on must go with the grain of new West Midlands regional structures in business support”.

“A fresh round of uncertainty would be bad for business and bad for delivering value for public money”.

“Business Links can deliver. It has been invaluable for my small Birmingham manufacturing firm, W G Eaton Ltd. Eatons is now in a good competitive position – and my business would not have got there had it not been for the diversity of support available through Business Links”.

“The recommendations in our submission would tackle the Government tooing and froing on business support – and would make a real difference in further ensuring business support services went further in helping to create jobs and prosperity for every family at the heart of the UK”.

Ends

Notes to Editors

a)The West Midlands Business Council (WMBC) is a UK First – the first time independent business representative organisations have chosen to come together to speak with one voice on the key regional business issues. No other region of the UK has such an organisation;

b) WMBC is an umbrella organisation for the whole West Midlands region – covering Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, & Worcestershire together with Birmingham/Coventry/Wolverhampton and the West Midlands conurbation.

c) The member organisations of WMBC are:

Asian Business Forum
Association of Colleges
British Ceramic Confederation
Business in the Community
Chartered Institute of Building
Confederation of West Midlands Chambers of Commerce
Country Land and Business Association
Engineering Employers’ Federation
Federation of Small Businesses
Heart of England Tourism
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
Institute of Directors
Institution of Civil Engineers
Midland Association of Restaurants, Caterers and Entertainment
National Farmers' Union
National Federation of Retail Newsagents
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
UK IT Association
West Midlands Co-operative and Mutual Council
West Midlands Higher Education Association
West Midlands Learning and Skills Councils
West Midlands Minority Ethnic Business Forum

For further information, please contact:
WMBC Executive Director, James Watkins, on 0121 245 0138/0776 5803582
Fax: 0121 245 0141
E: j.watkins@wmbusinesscouncil.org.uk
www.wmbusinesscouncil.org.uk

Met Office Warnings

Weather Warnings from the Met Office:

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for West Midlands Yellow Warning of Ice for West Midlands : Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Warwickshire, West Midlands Conurbation & Worcestershire valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for Yorkshire & Humber Yellow Warning of Ice for Yorkshire & Humber : East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire & York valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for SW Scotland, Lothian Borders Yellow Warning of Ice for SW Scotland, Lothian Borders : Dumfries and Galloway & Scottish Borders valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for East Midlands Yellow Warning of Ice for East Midlands : Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire & Rutland valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for North East England Yellow Warning of Ice for North East England : Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees & Sunderland valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for Wales Yellow Warning of Ice for Wales : Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhonnda Cynon Taff, Swansea, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan & Wrexham valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for North West England Yellow Warning of Ice for North West England : Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Halton, Lancashire, Merseyside & Warrington valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Warning of Ice for South West England Yellow Warning of Ice for South West England : Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Torbay & Wiltshire valid from 1700 Fri 27 Jan to 1000 Sat 28 Jan

  • Yellow Alert of Snow for West Midlands Yellow Alert of Snow for West Midlands : Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin & Worcestershire valid from 0005 Mon 30 Jan to 1200 Mon 30 Jan

  • Yellow Alert of Snow for SW Scotland, Lothian Borders Yellow Alert of Snow for SW Scotland, Lothian Borders : Dumfries and Galloway valid from 0005 Mon 30 Jan to 1200 Mon 30 Jan

  • Yellow Alert of Snow for Wales Yellow Alert of Snow for Wales : Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Powys, Rhonnda Cynon Taff, Swansea, Torfaen & Wrexham valid from 0005 Mon 30 Jan to 1200 Mon 30 Jan

  • Yellow Alert of Snow for North West England Yellow Alert of Snow for North West England : Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Halton, Lancashire, Merseyside & Warrington valid from 0005 Mon 30 Jan to 1200 Mon 30 Jan


Need Free Advice to Get Money for Your Business?

West Midlands Finance Could be the Answer!

This site is designed to help small growing companies and start-ups to find the most suitable finance for them.

It provides information and advice on obtaining the different types of finance, as well as a searchable database of grants, asset finance and cash flow finance providers, venture capitalists, business angel networks, banks, cash awards and soft loans available to SMEs in the West Midlands.

It is free to use - all you have to do is register!

Please click onto www.westmidlandsfinance.com

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