The government is launching a new service to support smaller businesses to grow.
The Business Growth Service was announced on Small Business Saturday on 7 December 2024 and will be launched in the first half of 2025.
According to gov.uk, the service is “inspired” by successful support agencies in other countries and will be an “integral part to the Small Business Strategy that will be published in 2025”.
Decreasing ‘internal business admin’
“It will be developed and will work in partnership with small businesses, local and devolved governments across the UK, with locally-led delivery at its core, to ensure the service provides the information and resources smaller firms need from government,” the government said.
It added that the scheme will aim to decrease the amount of “internal business admin” that SME owners have to spend time on, which it says is “over 33 hours every month”. It will do this by directing “small firms to practical help”.
Plan for change
“We said we’d deliver change for small businesses, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” said Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary.
“This government’s Plan for Change will deliver economic growth, and for that to succeed we need SMEs right across the country to be exporting, hiring and expanding.
“That’s why we’re working tirelessly to ensure every small business has the tools and support at their disposal to thrive.”
Much needed
Grace Thompson, the UK public affairs lead at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, said the announcement was welcome as a mechanism for providing more support for small businesses. She noted:
“It is welcome to see the government consolidating support for small businesses through this Business Growth Service. Small businesses naturally face acute time challenges, and we look forward to feeding back members’ views on the service to the government, so that it can be the best resource possible.
“In September, the E-Commerce Trade Commission – which we are delighted to chair at the Chartered Institute – recommended that the numerous sources of official guidance available to SMEs about exporting specifically should be brought together with consolidated access to high-quality sources of advice and support.
“It is encouraging to see that the government is seizing upon the need for consolidated resources for small businesses. The Commission is also delighted to be creating a similar resource, specifically for e-commerce exporters, which will be launched next summer.”
The Commission was convened in June 2023 by the Chartered Institute and is advising the Department for Business and Trade on how to increase the number of UK businesses exporting using online channels.
Regional focus
Paul Brooks, the head of UK nations and regions at the Chartered Institute, welcomed the focus on regional delivery in the government’s announcement:
“There are small businesses with growth potential in all parts of the UK, so we’re glad to see that the government is saying it will develop the new Business Growth Service in partnership with local and devolved governments.
“Enhancing the support that’s available to businesses within their regions will be key to the success of this new initiative.”
Services potential
Brooks further noted that the service should also consider how to address regional disparities when it comes to services trade, citing a paper from the Chartered Institute and Flint Global in 2023 on ‘services exports potential’.
“We found that there was a clear disparity between different regions when it comes to services exports potential – whether due to infrastructure challenges, local R&D capacity or digital connectivity.
“The government should continue to look at ways of addressing these disparities to boost services export potential in all regions, while also looking at how to maximise the potential that already exists in places where the right conditions are already in place for services firms to export.”
Small business focus
Last week was a busy one for the government in the run-up to Small Business Saturday, with a new Fair Payment Code also unveiled as part of its efforts to “tackle late payments”.
It also announced a new “banks-based initiative” to support disabled entrepreneurs to get “improved access to finance and support.”
This followed the confirmation of £1bn of funding for the British Business Bank that was announced in October’s Autumn Budget. This funding will go towards access for SMEs to finance through Start Up Loans, the ENABLE Build scheme, the Growth Guarantee Scheme and the Life Sciences Investment Programme.
Industry-government partnership
Thompson said the Chartered Institute continues to act as a ‘trusted interlocutor’ between government and business and is actively feeding into the government’s upcoming Trade Strategy and Small Business Strategy.
She advised that members can contact her team to feed in their views and experiences, which the Chartered Institute can then present to government, by emailing publicaffairs@export.org.uk.
