Another milestone reached and figures that evoke success; Business Link in the East of England continues to be the place to go for business support.

In its second year providing information and practical advice to the region’s entrepreneurs and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), Business Link in the East of England has supported an astounding 108,082 local businesses at various stages of their lifecycles. Across the region as a whole (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk), 78,844 established businesses, 4,434 start-up businesses and 24,804 pre-starts have been served.

With the challenge of bettering their remarkable year 1 achievements (engagement with 98,860 local businesses between April 07 – March 08, exceeding the target of 95,535), Business Link has once again over-achieved by serving more customers than ever, in their second year.

In Hertfordshire alone, 19,201 businesses and entrepreneurs have received impartial advice from Business Link and benefitted from the vast and growing range of support services on offer. Pre-start figures, relating to Herts-based individuals who are thinking of starting a business and have sought advice from Business Link, exceeded 3,600; entrepreneurs in the county are evidently standing strong and are not perturbed by the economic downturn. Existing SMEs - new-start companies (those in their first year of trading) and established businesses (those that have been trading for more than a year) - formed eighty-one per cent of Business Link’s Herts-based clients from April 08 to March 09.

Watford. The facts…

- More than 7% of Business Link’s Herts are based in Watford.

- In Watford, 1,220 existing SMEs - new-start companies (those in their first year of trading) and established businesses (those that have been trading for more than a year) - have sought help from Business Link during the last financial year. |

Pat Smith, Chief Executive of Business Link in the East of England says, “We have made considerable progress in our first two years and are proud to have achieved, and indeed exceeded, the high and stretching targets set by EEDA. However, there is no room for complacency and it’s important for us to remember that the numbers equate to real business people and future entrepreneurs in our region, many of which have come to us for help due to the impact of the economic downturn on their business.

“Our priority for the year ahead is to respond to and meet the needs of our customers, ensuring that our services add value to their business operations and start-up ideas. Business Link is the place to go for business support and we remain committed to supporting local companies and helping drive them towards a brighter future.”

Business Link in this region is funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Richard Ellis, Chairman of EEDA, says, "Once again Business Link East has demonstrated strong results that have exceeded expectations and no doubt improved business practice and success across the East of England.

“The Business Link team have laid firm foundations for an even stronger and more successful third year and, in further developing and building on their already vast portfolio of products and services, continue to be an invaluable source for the region’s businesses."

Even more reasons why Business Link is celebrating…

Credit crunch defying statistics for the Business Start-up Programme:

-The core Business Start-up Programme for the year ending March 09 across the East of England region witnessed 14,308 delegates attending 1,565 scheduled start-up workshops, with an average of 9.1 delegates per workshop.

-In addition, the Enterprise Awareness Champions delivered bespoke workshops to 4,000 delegates for specific groups, ranging from prisoners, to students, to fitness instructors and civil celebrants.

-Across the year, 8,169 business start-up advice vouchers were issued and 3,211 redeemed with nearly 300 suppliers.

- The high level of engagement with local businesses looks set to continue with over 4,000 delegates already booked onto business start-up workshops for the April-September 09 schedule. As a result such a high demand, an additional 134 workshops have already been included in the schedule up to the end of July with further additional workshops expected later in the year.

Strength in numbers for established businesses

-The programme for established businesses was equally well received with 3,722 bookings in year 2.

- From April 2008 to March 2009, nearly 5,500 delegates booked to attend Business Link briefings and workshops for established businesses.

-5,607 clients received in-depth help via one-to-one relationships with an adviser.

-23,652 clients were signposted to relevant partner organisations.

- In a direct response to the recession, Business Link developed a workshop entitled ‘Survive and thrive in difficult times’. Through March and April 09, 7 of these workshops ran, attracting 276 delegates from across the region.

- Since October 2008, Business Link advisers have delivered 4915 ‘health checks’ to the region’s businesses. The health check is part of the package announced by the Government to support local firms to bear the impact of current global economic challenges. If you would like more information about Business Link services, or wish to speak to an Adviser, call 08457 17 16 15 or log on to: www.businesslink.gov.uk/east

About Business Link in the East of England:

- Business Link provides information, practical advice and support to help people to start, run or grow their business Our clients fall in to two main categories:

o Those running or working in established small and medium sized businesses

o Those who want to start their own business Both clients groups can access independent, impartial and, in most instances, free help and support from Business Link in the form of:

- Free one-to-one help from an experienced business adviser (established businesses) or enterprise champion (start-up)

- Workshops and briefings on a range of business subjects such as business planning, sales and marketing, legislation, developing people

- Telephone and online support through our Information and intelligence centre

- Business Link in the East of England works with businesses and entrepreneurs in the 6 counties in the East of England: Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire

-Business Link is a government initiative to promote enterprise, funded in the East of England by the East of England Development Agency