Economic |
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Government schemes to help SMEs 'tend to go unnoticed'
31/03/2008
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has said that government schemes set up to help small and medium-sized business enterprises "tend to go unnoticed".
FSB spokesman Simon Briault pointed to Business Link as being one of the "most famous and popular" state-sponsored initiatives, but added that "with government schemes we find that very few small business owners actually know about them and use them".
Mr Briault called for "a shift in focus" for those government agencies so that they are more proactive in seeking out business owners and telling them "what it is they need".
"They should help them on the one hand by helping them to cope with existing and new legislation, and on the other, by letting them know about some of the incentives and grants that are available," he said.
Recent research conducted by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) discovered that 65 per cent of businesses in London are aiming to grow in the next 2-3 [two to three] years.
The same survey found that 14 per cent of businesses in London said regulations were the biggest obstacle to their success.
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