Health checks
The free business Health Checks aim to provide personalised support and confidential advice for all businesses, regardless of their size or sector, on:
- Maximising cash flow
- Marketing
- And Business Planning
Qualified experts will help firms draw-up business action plans designed to shore up their businesses and avoid the potential pitfalls of the economic slowdown. Business Link will also provide a follow-on and monitoring service to ensure the plan is working for them.
In addition, Business Link users will be given free guidance, produced by the Institute of Credit Management, to give businesses expert financial information to help safe guard their businesses. The guidance will cover:
- Effective invoice chasing
- Debt management
- Credit Insurance
Notes to editors
- Business Link is the information, advice and support service for businesses, funded by the Government. For more details go to www.businesslink.gov.uk/businesshelp or call the National Help Line 0845 600 9 006.
- In addition, we will help businesses improve cash flow by identifying cost savings through increasing energy efficiency. Businesses can save significant sums through simple measures to use energy more efficiently. The average annual saving for small companies is around £250, with savings for larger employers rising to £5,000 or more a year. Practical advice on how business can save energy is available at www.businesslink.gov.uk/cutfuelbills
- As a condition of the recapitalisation of the banks, the government is requiring banks to maintain the availability and active marketing of lending to SMEs at 2007 levels. The government has brokered contact between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and UK banks to ensure that the £24 billion facility announced by EIB over four years is made available for immediate access in the UK. The four largest UK banks have now signalled their initial interest to negotiate loans totalling about £1bn.
- With regards to prompt payments, the Government examined payment data from ten Departments with expenditure totalling £66billion. A total of £58billion (88%) of payments being made within ten days.
- In March the Government's Enterprise Strategy set out a renewed vision for making the UK the most enterprising economy in the world, with particular focus on the needs of small business. The Government also recently increased the Small Firms Loan Guarantee by 20 per cent for 2008-09 and increased investment in the Leadership and Management Programme for SMEs from £4m to £30m per year.
