Why do I get the feeling that we have been here before in the arena of access to finance for small businesses?
The number of evaluations, consultations, reports, seminars and task forces in progress must be creating some much-sought-after growth in itself, but is all the activity and investigation really getting us any closer to boosting the wider UK economy and creating jobs?
I have lately sat back and wondered just exactly how, in these changing and challenging economic times, the words and reports are going to be used. Will they just sit on a shelf gathering dust, as has often been the case in the past, or only be available for the Google addicts, academics and consultants who in years to come will use them to write yet another report based on the their findings, which were not acted upon in the first place?
The latest twist in this saga is that the new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are all taking stock of what is around already and gathering information from national sources, local knowledge and the internet.
It will be interesting to see how the new national portals, such as Business Link, manage to pick up on all this local information and keep their sites up to date.
The one report I am looking forward to reading is the national taskforce recommendations, expected prior to the budget next month, on sources of what is now being described as ‘non-bank lending’. The challenge will be seen in the months ahead in the action taken. I am hoping that the taskforce does not undertake a review that concentrates on larger businesses and will mean little to the vast majority of small and medium size businesses in the UK.
February 12, 2012 9:48 am