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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09: Help Yourself

21st June 2015 By Elliot Forte

Francis Maude and business support“We are completely committed to getting the government web back under control. The days of vanity sites are over. It is not good enough to have websites which do not deliver the high quality services which people expect and deserve. We will take tough action to get rid of those which are not up to the job.”
Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office. 24 June 2010

In 1993, there was little choice but to rely on people to get out there and help businesses face to face. However, field-based advisers do not come cheap. Mark Prisk MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, confirmed the cost of training and employing Business Link advisers in a single year was £55.95 million (2009-2010).

This chapter tracks the rise of online business support and the Government drive to develop a “self serving” solution and cut costs.

The controversy behind the Government funded £125 million BusinessLink.gov website is revisited. The short lived National Contact Centre of 2001 is reviewed and the Sir David Varney cull of Government websites is explained.

Chapter 9 challenges whether the advance of technology really delivered better support for small and medium sized businesses.

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.