Intervention and the Battle for Better Business

A critique of business support in the United Kingdom including exclusive interview with Lord Heseltine

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02: Business Link Goes National (1994)

21st June 2015 By Elliot Forte

Michael Heseltine and business support“We were constantly criticised for being too prescriptive and centralised in approach. But often the moment we relaxed the broad standards we had set, local standards, far from showing the initiative about which we were so frequently told, simply relapsed to the levels we had sought to replace.”
Michael Heseltine, Life in the Jungle. (Hodder and Stoughton 2000)

In 1994, Lord Heseltine had a very simple paradigm. Small businesses want to concentrate on running their own businesses, not to spend time and trouble seeking out information and advice, or dealing with mountains of government paperwork.

His solution? Get someone else to do it and slash government sponsored bureaucracy.

The Government created the Business Link network to deliver this radical change in industrial and economic policy.

Chapter 2 explains how the decisions taken and mistakes made during the setting up phase of Business Link impacted on small and medium sized businesses for a generation. It exposes early opposition and support for England’s first national business advisory service.

Filed Under: Chapter Profiles

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Chapter Profiles

01: Shoots and Roots (1992)

02: Business Link Goes National (1994)

03: A Toolkit of Competitiveness

04: Knowledge Driven Economy (1997)

05: Quality Marks (1999)

06: Whiz Kids and Failed Business People

07: A Small Business Service (2001)

08: Best in Class (2004)

09: Help Yourself

10: Localism (2005)

11: No Wrong Door (2007)

12: Recess Stress (2008)

13: Dragon’s Breath (2008)

14: Prisk End (2010-2011)

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Reception

“For many reasons, this is a valuable book, and it is an important innovation for the policy field in itself. It will remain a valuable historical resource.”

Review by Professor R Bennett MA PhD FBA. Emeritus Professor. Cambridge University

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Elliot Forte (Author)
Email: elliot.forte@businessthink.co.uk

COPYRIGHT © 2015 Business Think Ltd. The right of Elliot Forte to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner.