Government to review start-up support services
Feb 18 2004
The Government has launched a review to assess the effectiveness of support and information available for start-ups.
Led by the Small Business Service (SBS), the Government wants to hear from organisations and individuals who have either left employment to set up their own business, or who have done so through unemployment.
The review aims to establish how effective Government-sponsored information services are in supporting those starting up, ways in which current support could be better promoted and how agencies such as Job Centre Plus and Business Link could help.
It will look at areas such as whether there is enough information available about self-employment and its financial implications to encourage people to consider starting a business compared to entering employment, and whether there are any barriers
relating to the support available, which affects the choice of moving from unemployment and employment, into self-employment.
“We want to make setting up in business a more attractive option for jobseekers and those thinking of a career change. Currently around 8% of those leaving unemployment start their own business, even though our research has shown that 48% of the UK population would prefer to be self-employed rather than an employee,” says Martin Wyn Griffith, chief executive of the SBS.
Views can be submitted to Paul Rigby, SBS Enterprise Culture Team, Level 1, St. Mary's House, c/o Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ or email paul.rigby@sbs.gsi.gov.uk by Thursday 11 March 2004.
(18/2/04)