Following on from our earlier blog about the closure of the network of regional Business Links by the end of this week (Friday 25 November), Richard Dearden, Chief Executive of  National Enterprise Network member NBV, offers his view on the closure based on his long history working with pre start and start up clients in the Nottinghamshire area.

I have been with NBV for just over 12 years and during that time there have been many changes to the Business Support world which includes the Business Link service. In recent days we have seen the biggest shift to Business Link I have ever experienced through the closure of the Regional Business Link model and a move to a new world consisting of principally a web based service.
Now is a good time to consider this change and whether this new, virtual service will be better for the small business and SME community.

My views and experiences are influenced by the thousands of clients NBV has worked with and supported over the years. During the last 12 months the NBV team of Advisors, Trainers and Mentors will have worked with over 15,000 individuals who are either considering enterprise or managing and growing their own business. NBV has then assisted over 4,000 of those clients to actually start in business and as a result, during the last year more than 7,500 new local jobs have been created by those businesses. In my view the start up/small business community remain the crucial job creators of the future and they are key to economic recovery in our country.

So, what do our clients think of Business Link? As usual with such services feedback is wide ranging and covers both ends of the spectrum. For many, Business Link has been crucial to the successful start and growth of their business and in that respect they mourn the closure of the local service. Others – and far fewer it has to be said – are dismissive of Business Link; they have either found it irrelevant or found it unable to meet their specific needs. For me, Business Owners will always have mixed views on services such as Business Link. If you took a cross section of the business community and sought views on Chambers of Commerce, Banks, Government policy there will always be the “marmite” factor – you either love it or not!

What can’t be argued with in my opinion are the improvements we have seen over the years in the Business Link service – from my early days of working with Manny Gatt locally at Business Link Greater Nottingham, to the regional service delivered by Stephen Smith and his team at EMB, there have been marked improvements in the consistency and availability of the service, levels of clients engaging with Business Link services and the very high levels of customer satisfaction. It would also be remiss of me not to mention the role of emda here, our Regional Development Agency, as they have in recent years managed the Business Link service across the East Midlands. They had the unenviable task of transforming Business Link from a service delivered by several county based organisations into a regional, consistent model – they achieved that and much more in a very short period of time and there is no doubt in my view that the Business Link service has been much improved and made more accessible during emda’s “watch”.
And so to the future! There are two aspects to consider here – firstly what do clients tell NBV they want in terms of business support and secondly what will the new Business Link model offer?

What do clients want? Individuals looking to start a business tell us they want access to a locally delivered, high quality, value for money, independent and impartial service. Like all of us, people want guidance and support through various channels, we therefore offer a mixture of information, advice, training and mentoring – we build a bespoke package of support to meet each client’s individual needs. It is this very package that has supported more than 15,000 people this year and helped them to achieve their ambition to start and grow their own successful small business.

It will be these businesses in my view that will create the new local jobs we so desperately need to support economic recovery in Nottinghamshire. With rising numbers of unemployed people the local small business community will be a crucial component to help rebuild and grow our local economy. In addition to those that make a conscious decision to start in business, I still believe much more needs to be done by Government (at all levels) to inspire, encourage and incentivise people to consider enterprise as a career path. Over the years NBV has worked very successfully on the ground, often in deprived areas, to stimulate interest and awareness in business – currently these outreach, face to face services are not part of Government policy which I believe will create a huge gap and is a real mistake.

So, if that’s what clients want and what delivers valuable benefits to a growing, thriving small business community, what support will be provided by Business Link from now on? Well, from last week we have seen the re-launch of the Business Link website (www.businesslink.gov.uk) and this has been updated and expanded to provide information on a wide variety of business related subjects. The website will be supported via a national telephone centre, the principal aim of the centre will be to help clients navigate through the website as opposed to providing business advice. An improved website is always a welcome development and I would certainly applaud Government for taking such steps – for many small businesses and SMEs requiring information it will be an invaluable tool. What it won’t do however is allow a real time conversation to develop with an experienced and impartial adviser. We find so much more information is developed and many more avenues are opened through talking and questioning – the best website in the world can never replace that. There is also the issue of accessibility for me, many people and some businesses remain unable to access the Internet – how will such individuals find support?

NBV has worked with and alongside Business Link in all its forms for many years and we will continue to do this via the website. However, recognising the support and services clients tell us they want and need, NBV will continue to offer a wide range of ‘face to face’ services. These will include:

Evolve Mentoring – a mentoring service providing mentoring and coaching support on an on-going basis.
Face To Face Advisor Sessions – Available on an ‘as and when’ basis and providing up to two hours of advisor guidance and support whenever the business requires such support .

NBV Connect – A small business virtual community where subscribers can access a whole range of business services and support from NBV and a variety of other high calibre support organisations at discounted rates.

Virtual Offices – We have multiple virtual office locations offering cost effective property solutions.

Training Workshops – A series of business skills development workshops aimed helping businesses start and grow successfully.
Individuals considering the start of a business or looking to grow an existing enterprise and looking for support should contact the NBV team via the website or via  0115 9705550.

Richard Dearden, Chief Executive, NBV

NBV was established in 1982 and in that time has helped over 60,000 potential business start-up clients throughout the East Midlands.  NBV is committed to the principles of the Customer First Standard, is IIP and ISO accredited and has a committed team of SFEDI accredited advisers and trainers. www.nbv.co.uk