Small firms using the Business Link service to help them grow are adding £750m to the UK economy each year, the government has claimed.
A report published this week by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR), found that using the Business Link service also gave companies greater job growth.
According to the report, for every £1 spent in governement funding, Business Link contributed £2.26 of additional value to the economy as a result of better business performance.
“Small and medium enterprises account for a large portion of the UK economy,” said Stephen Timms, new minister for small business.
“This report shows the Business Link service is being used by many of them for help and support, boosting the economy as a whole.”
Timms said the government would ‘continue to grow the Business Link service, making it the definitive place for small businesses to find support’.
Local Business Link services are run by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and operate within a nationally agreed framework.
The report was compiled from a study of 3,000 small buisnesses in the UK by a team of economists from Warwick, Kingston and Aston University business schools.
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