Partner Article

Business as usual for BENE

THE LEADER of the organisation which operates a key regional business advisory service has said its “very much business as usual” while it awaits the fate of one of its contracts.

The Coalition Government are currently reviewing the future of business support and the Business Link service. No announcement has yet been made about that review process.

Alastair MacColl, Chief Executive of Business & Enterprise North East (BE-NE), has said it won’t waiver in its full commitment to delivering the Business Link contract ahead of an expected announcement by the Coalition Government.

He said: “There is an overwhelming focus on making sure that we continue to operate the business link contract in an effective and efficient way so that we cater for all the businesses in the North East as best we can. We do, of course, recognise we may have to do so with less resource.

“In the current climate we need to make sure the private sector and the economy grows, so we are currently working very closely with the new Government to make sure that the quality and impact of business support in the North East is maintained. We’ll also make sure that any changes the new Government want to make are made as seamlessly as possible.

“As an independent company we also hope to be providing the Government with some of the 21st century solutions that Mark Prisk has been talking about.”

This is reinforced by an article on FT.com on 12 July which states that Business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk stressed that while the Business Link service was under review, it continued to operate as normal. He said: “Business support needs to be modern, targeted and suited to businesses’ needs. I am currently reviewing options for the future of business support and am committed to a 21st-century approach to services.”

BE-NE is an independent company and operates a further 25 contracts on behalf of One North East, UKTI, DWP, the Environment Agency and a number of local authorities.

The organisation won the five-year contract to run the Business Link service in 2007 and is the region’s main access point for publicly funded business support.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .