City of London Corporation suppliers:
Helping SMEs to do business:
Money matters:
Workspace:
Your employees:
City of London Corporation
suppliers
What are the City of London Corporation’s payment terms for SME
suppliers?
The City of London Corporation has an overall target to ensure
that all invoices are paid within 30 days of receipt. For SME
suppliers, the City Corporation has introduced accelerated payment
terms of 10 days from receipt of invoice. If you have any queries
about accelerated payment terms please email the Accounts Payable
Team at
cbis.helpdesk@cityoflondon.gov.uk or
call 020 7332 3734.
Additionally, the City of London Corporation is committed to
the Prompt Payment Code.
How can you access supply
opportunities at the City of London Corporation?
The City of London Corporation is using its own procurement
procedures to promote fairness of opportunity for SMEs to provide
goods and services to the City of London and has established a
Local Procurement Project to help maximise contract
opportunities for local suppliers based in the boroughs that
surround the City. To help deliver the project, the City of London
has developed an internal supplier database to assist staff in
their procurement activities. Suppliers can register for
the supplier database by completing the online form. There is
no charge for registering on this database.
Helping SMEs to do business
Are you looking for general
business support and advice?
The City of London Corporation has a substantial
business support programme which has been established to
facilitate the development and growth of small businesses in the
City fringes through the provision of premises, finance and
guidance. The City Corporation also provides funding to
GLEoneLondon, the business support arm of
Greater London Enterprise, which specialises in support for small
and early-stage businesses and entrepreneurs in under-served
communities.
Support and advice for SMEs can also be accessed
through Business
Link in London, which acts as the publicly funded gateway to
all business support services. Business Link offers a
range of free support including a guide to managing a business
during a recession and SMEs can sign up to the Business Link
in London newsletter. Support and advice for SMEs
is also available from the London Chamber of
Commerce.
As part of its
Keeping
London Working campaign, the London Development Agency has
produced a guide to the range of support and information
available to businesses and individuals and is delivering and
developing various initiatives designed to respond to the needs of
businesses during the economic downturn.
Are you interested in accessing
the City supply chain?
Current and forthcoming City of London Corporation contracts
for goods and services and for works are advertised on our internet
site. Opportunities to supply London councils through the London
Contracts and Supplies Group (LCSG) can be viewed at the
LCSG website. We
will also advertise current or forthcoming opportunities to supply
to the City of London on this page.
The City of London is funding a range of exciting new
City supply chain business support projects. The projects range
from workshops to prepare City fringe SMEs to access the City
supply chain to a trade fair for social enterprise SMEs and a large
scale ‘Meet the Buyers’ event in March 2010. These projects
were developed to respond to the recommendations of one of our
research reports,
City of London's Supply Chain and its Relationship with the City
Fringes.
Would you like to know more about
the City Business Library’s free services for SMEs?
The
City Business Library is a public reference library
specialising in current business information. The library holds
company information on British and foreign companies, country
information and guides to doing business in other countries, market
research reports and smaller collections on a range of subjects
including Tax, Accounting, Law and Marketing. The library also
provides free access to a number of company information databases.
Training on the use of company information and databases is
available at the Library free of charge.
In addition to its reference collections, the City Business
Library holds regular free lunchtime seminars aimed at small
businesses and business start-ups. Upcoming seminars include
‘Marketing on a small budget’ and ‘Approaching VAT’.
Librarians can also direct visitors to the range of in-house
guides on all aspects of starting or running a small business and
can refer visitors to local business support organisations.
SMEs can also take advantage of the free internet access,
computing facilities, and daily newspapers available at any of the
City of London’s Libraries.
Money matters
Do you need advice on Business
Rates?
If you are a business located in the City of London and you are
having difficulty, or are concerned that you may have difficulty,
paying your business rates please
us know as soon as possible. Making us aware of your situation
will enable us to discuss the problem and advise you on what action
you will need to take.
Some SMEs located in the City of London will be eligible for
Small Business Rate Relief, which is available at 50% for
ratepayers occupying single properties with a rateable value up to
£6,000. If you think your business may be eligible please complete
and submit an application form.
Are you looking for financial
support for your business?
Since 1999, the City of London Corporation has invested
£8.5million in SME loan funds including
London Regional Venture Capital Fund which
provides equity finance to high growth, innovative businesses
requiring sums below £500,000 and
OneLondon’s London Business Growth Fund which
provides loans of up to £40,000 to small businesses with potential
for growth and employment generation.
Business Link in London can also provide
advice on the range of financial assistance and support available
to SMEs.
How can you save money by making
your business more energy efficient?
Managing energy consumption by reducing the use of electricity
and fossil fuels is a crucial first step for tackling climate
change and may also help your business to cut costs. Savings can
also be made by addressing less obvious uses of energy, for example
by reducing the amount of water being used, the amount of waste
being generated, or by reviewing your transport arrangements. The
City of London has been awarded Beacon Status for its efforts to
reduce climate change and the
Sustainability Unit can provide advice and guidance on
improving the way in which your SME is using its resources. SMEs
can also find advice on how to save money, cut costs and reduce
carbon emissions from the
Carbon Trust.
Do you need advice on debt or
finances?
Free independent advice about business debt is available to SMEs
from Business Link
in London or
from Business Debtline.
Do you need free advice
on keeping paper and electronic records?
Managing
Business Archives provides free best practice advice to
help businesses manage their semi-current records and long-term
archive collections. It is designed to help company personnel with
no prior knowledge or expertise in records management as well as
business archive practitioners.
Workspace
Are you looking for affordable
workspace?
Affordable workspace is a significant problem for small and
medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the City fringes. The
City of London Corporation already makes available certain
properties for let to SMEs and we have also launched a major
initiative to increase the amount of space for SMEs available in
the City fringes and beyond.
If you are looking to locate to suitable premises within the
Square Mile (EC1-4) or on its fringes, the
City Property Advisory Team’s specialist advisors provide a
free property search service on a strictly confidential basis.
Your employees
Would you like to improve your
employees’ skills?
Up-skilling the workforce can help businesses to adapt and
thrive. Through the Train to Gain programme, the City Corporation
can help SME businesses to improve the skills of their staff, for
example by providing NVQ qualifications in Cleaning Services,
Security, Customer Service and Business Administration. For further
information contact the
Adult Learning Service. Details of other training
opportunities and providers are available from
Business Link in London.
Volunteering is also a great way to improve
skills. Employee personal and professional development is one of
the many business benefits that an active corporate community
involvement programme can bring to your business.
City
Action for Community Development offers a free brokerage
service identifying the types of involvement that best suit a
company's culture, areas of interest and available resources and
matching employees with community projects. For free advice and
support on establishing or expanding a corporate social
responsibility programme for your business visit the
Heart
of the City.