Press release
A package of further support to help small and medium sized businesses to bear the impact of the current global economic challenges is announced today by the Government.
Small and medium sized businesses employ about 13.5m people and are essential for the livelihoods of hard working families. Today's cross-Government package focuses on the things small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have identified as top priorities - cash flow, access to finance and training for staff.
The Government will:
- Build on its commitment to pay firms within 10 days by working with NHS trusts in England, local authorities and other public sector employers in England to seek opportunities to extend the payment target. Regional Development Agencies in England, which spend around £750m per year with suppliers, have today signed up to this target.
- Offer free "Health Checks" in England for businesses through its Business Link support service to help identify problems early and to survive in the current financial climate.
- Prioritise training for SMEs in England under its Train to Gain initiative to ensure employees have the skills and business knowledge they need.
- Provide financial information, produced by the Institute of Credit Management, to help UK businesses to maintain cash flow, secure finance and limit problems caused by late or non-payment.
Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson said: "We are on the side of small and medium sized businesses and understand that they are facing tough times. The Government has taken steps to ensure that banks can start lending to them again.
"But we're determined to do more. Businesses tell us they need access to cash flow. That's why central Government has committed to paying businesses within 10 days - and we're urgently speaking to the wider public sector to extend this commitment. We want everyone in the supply chain to pay their bills more quickly.
"Big businesses have accountants and business advisers. Small businesses, with fewer employees and limited resources, often lack such professional help and advice. These measures we're announcing today offer them new support. They're not on their own.
"We want to help smaller businesses to plan for the difficult times ahead. We want to ensure that they are healthy enough to survive and come out strongly at the other side."
Skills Secretary John Denham said
"We are overhauling the training system to make sure small businesses can get help with training their staff with the very minimum of bureaucracy.
"We know that firms which invest in skills do better than those that don't, which is why we will be urging small businesses to take up this offer from Government."