This book challenges the actions of the people responsible for shaping business support policy in England for a generation.
A stellar cast list that includes Lord Heseltine, Tony Blair, Lord Alan Sugar, Doug Richard (Dragon’s Den) and Dr Vince Cable.
“My Party would not take kindly to these arguments. I’m deeply aware there is a very substantial body of opinion that would be very suspicious of anything that smacked of interventionism”.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Heseltine CH
Intervention Interview. London. 8th June 2011
Intervention exposes the real story of support during an unprecedented era of Government intervention in the affairs of small businesses. An age ended in 2011 by a dramatic return to laissez faire policy and a credit crunched economy.
In 1992, Lord Heseltine led an unprecedented change to industrial policy in Britain. His vision of a new Competitiveness Agenda was the catalyst for a number of emergency measures intended to stem the constant decline of British business.
His most radical creation was a national network of Business Link organisations and a small army of Government funded business advisers. This initiative received rare cross party support in the early years and despite being a Tory invention, survived five changes in government. In 2010, this organisation was still supporting 750,000 small and medium sized businesses each year, one in every five businesses in the country.
The coalition Government closed the Business Link Advisory Service on 25th November 2011, labelling the project a “failure”.
Intervention closes with a vision for the future and plea for all businesses to demand more, in an age of less.
“The most serious barriers to success are those of a personal nature, not business. I have worked with husband and wife teams whose marriages broke due to the stress of running a small business. I have worked with family businesses where the rules of business are torn up and the potential for emotional conflict constantly simmers just below the surface. I have even received a suicide note.
These are the threats that end organisations and ruin lives.”
Elliot Forte. Epilogue. Intervention 2011
