Special Feature
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 43
Special Feature
Despite these successes, however, there is evidence that BAME-owned businesses encounter disproportionate barriers to the development and growth of their businesses- particularly in securing contracts and accessing start-up and growth finance, affordable business premises, quality business support and international trade opportunities.
The competitiveness, growth and survival of businesses rely on their ability to compete for, and win, contracts. The public sector offers huge opportunities for most SMEs irrespective of size or sector. In 2002-3 over £ 100 billion of contracts were placed in the public sector in the UK, of which half were from local authorities. There is a growing belief that SMEs generally are not maximising opportunities made available through public procurement. And more specifically, anecdotal evidence suggests that BAME-owned businesses are especially disadvantaged in the public procurement market and are under-represented in the supply base of many public sector organisations. The public sector offers great opportunities for businesses, yet BAME-owned businesses are under-represented among public sector contractors. A number of public funded initiatives are addressing this.
The LDA has made a commitment to support and develop BAME-owned businesses in the capital. Ensuring that small and medium sized businesses have access to the right type of support is a key area of development for the LDA.
The LDA has a key role in facilitating, driving forward and leading on BAME business support. The Agency is aware that there is a need to ensure the sustainability of BAME-led support and advice; increase the capacity of BAME support organisations and BAME business advisers; ensure that the business support is fully accessible, and focuses on the user relevant to the BAME; ensure that new BAME business support products are immediately available; and see that support is appropriate to the developmental stage of BAME businesses( i. e. lifecycle: pre-start / start-up, growth businesses, sector).
One of the Agency’ s major avenues for supporting SMEs is through its Business Link contracts. Service
“ The LDA has a key role in facilitating, driving forward and leading on BAME business support”.
£ 100 company Serco will take over the running of the capital’ s small business support unit next year after signing a £ 60m agreement with the London Development Agency. The move will ensure that thousands of small business entrepreneurs will continue to receive the free support they need to both start up new enterprises and expand existing ones to help London maintain its position as Europe’ s economic powerhouse.
Over the three years, the company is anticipated to provide support for more than half of London’ s businesses. Serco will be responsible for ensuring all businesses can access free information online or via telephone 24 hours a day-seven days a week. It will provide information, diagnostic and brokerage services which will include advice on how firms can tap into 2012 Olympic business opportunities. Serco will also help businesses access other support providers in both the public and private sectors.
The LDA, through its Procurement Development Programme( PDP), continues to promote the benefits of using BAME suppliers to purchasing organisations across the capital.
PDP is a flagship London Development Agency initiative which seeks to create greater opportunities for small & medium enterprises to effectively compete for the millions of pounds of contracts offered by major public sector and statutory bodies within London. The programme specifically seeks to establish greater accessibility for SMEs within the procurement practices of the Greater London Authority and its functional bodies- the Greater London Authority( GLA), the London Development Agency( LDA), Transport for London( TFL), the Metropolitan Police Authority( MPA) and the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority( LFEPA)
Whilst PDP is accessible to and of benefit to all London’ s SMEs, it is by design a targeted initiative which focuses on the needs of small and medium sized businesses led by people from Black and minority ethnic( BAME) backgrounds1 and other disadvantaged groups( including women, refugees, disabled people and young entrepreneurs) with specific programme beneficiary targets for each respective group.
In 2005, the LDA launched the BAME Business Action Plan to meet the barriers to business growth faced by the capital’ s BAMEowned enterprises. Following research the LDA found that BAMEowned businesses encounter disproportionate barriers to their development and growth of their businesses. As a result of the recommendations within the research report, the action plan focused on six areas- business support and advice, business finance, public and private sector contracts, business premises, international partnerships and trade development and information data and research.
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