20 July 2009
City of London Corporation maps out
business recovery for small businesses
The City of London Corporation has this
week launched two new projects which will help small businesses to
survive and prepare for growth post-recession.
The City of London Corporation, which looks after the Square
Mile business district but also works with Inner London neighbours,
is contributing £105,000 to the two 12 month projects which will
provide SMEs with expertise to improve financial viability and
prepare for recovery.
The free business recovery services will offer business health
checks and assist nearly 400 small to medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in local boroughs to maximise opportunities to maintain and
grow their trading capacity.
The first of the projects, the ‘Capital Enterprise Business
Recovery Service’, gets £75,000 funding from the City of London
Corporation, and is co-funded and endorsed by Camden, Hackney,
Islington, Lambeth and Southwark local authorities. Local
enterprise agencies and high street banks including Barclays and
HSBC will promote the service to clients who could benefit in these
boroughs, as well as the City itself.
The second project, ‘Enhancing Business Support during a
Recession’, is managed by East London Small Business Centre in
Tower Hamlets and will receive £30,000 funding from the City of
London Corporation.
The City of London Corporation says SMEs need support from
business recovery services following on from business health checks
in order to ensure their survival.
The services will provide a bespoke programme of business
support to SMEs across six London boroughs. It will review current
business viability, offer practical strategies to continue to be
trading within 12 months and prepare for their growth potential
going forward.
Using one-one-one business support, held at businesses’ premises
to minimise disruption to their day-to-day operations, the City of
London Corporation-funded business consultancy will:
- Review current business viability and growth potential
- Change and adapt cash management practices and investment
plans
- Preserve and adapt the business’ skills base
- Secure the present customer base by identifying customer needs
and buying behaviour
- Identify solutions to maintain existing sales and generate new
sales
- Review and ‘stress test’ the medium to long term business
models and plans of SMEs
- identify suitable sources of funding
- Help the businesses get ready for increased revenue streams and
plan for the upturn
Stuart Fraser, Chairman of Policy and Resources at the City of
London Corporation, says, ‘SMEs often only turn to external
services like these as a last resort, so we are working with public
sector local authorities and enterprise agencies, and, crucially,
private sector high street banks including Barclays and HSBC to
ensure we reach as many SMEs as possible who could benefit from our
business recovery endeavours. Our realistic outlook is to ensure
the continued trading of nearly 300 businesses who might otherwise
falter during the recession, and safeguard around 1,000 jobs in the
City fringes.’
John Wright, Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses,
says, ‘It is vital that small businesses can access authoritative
and helpful advice during these tough times. Business owners don’t
always know where to go for business advice or have the time to
look so the projects funded by the City of London Corporation will
provide a welcome source of assistance. We encourage the City of
London Corporation to advertise this as fully as possible to
make small businesses aware of these services.’
These projects will sit alongside an existing substantial
business support programme by the City of London Corporation to
facilitate the development and growth of small businesses in the
City fringe through the provision of premises, finance and
guidance. The City of London Corporation currently funds eight
projects contributing to SME survival:
- SME Management Assistance Project
- Supporting City Fringe SMEs
- Social Enterprise Supplies
- Ready 2 Supply
- Selling to the City
- Meet the Buyers
- Annual support of GLE oneLondon
- SME workspace programme
The City fringes are the London boroughs of Camden, Hackney,
Islington, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets.
The City of London Corporation is leading the drive to spend
locally with SMEs - it has channeled 25% of its own spending to
suppliers in the target boroughs, while a further 10% is spent in
other inner London areas and 15% in Outer London.
For SMEs looking for more information and access to the City of
London Corporation-funded business recovery services, visit
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/businessrecovery.
Ends
Further information
Please contact Rain UK – Neil Cassley and Lizzie Boylan Ward on 00
44 (0)20 7222 4345 or email:
neil.cassley@raincommunications.co.uk
Notes:
The City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation is the “business authority for the
business district” and supports the international financial
services industry based in the UK, with its heart in the Square
Mile. It provides local authority services for the Square Mile but
also works across wider London and UK.
Partners
The Business Recovery Service will be delivered by East London
Small Business Centre in Tower Hamlets, and Centa Business Services
in Camden and Islington, HBV Enterprise in Hackney, and GLE One
London in Lambeth and Southwark under the umbrella provider Capital
Enterprise.
Capital Enterprise
Capital Enterprise has three core remits focused on the enterprise
agenda in London, linked to wider regeneration and economic
development:
- Internally, it is a membership body with a service offer to its
members
- Externally, it is a representative body championing small
business and the key enabling role played by its member
agencies
- It has a programme management arm for national contracts
targeting London
East London Small Business
Centre
ELSBC actively helps new businesses start up, and supports existing
small businesses in East London to survive and grow. Since its
formation in 1978, the Centre has helped over 10,000 people realise
their dreams of running their own business in East London.
As a not-for-profit private organisation, our work is supported by
major UK and international Companies, Local Authorities, National
& European funded programmes and many other organisations
committed to helping create jobs and increase prosperity in East
London.