Business Growth Service to help SMEs

To mark Small Business Saturday, the business secretary has announced that small businesses across the UK will be able to get quicker and easier help, support, and advice, as part of a scheme to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) thrive. Small Business Saturday is a yearly initiative to spotlight SMEs across the country by encouraging Brits to shop small in the run up to Christmas. 

Small businesses frequently say that finding support for their business is complicated and difficult to navigate, with only 26 per cent of UK SME employers in 2023 having sought eternal advice within the last year.

The Business Growth Service has consequently come as a method to mitigate this, offering a UK-wide business support system with an updated web offer, set to launch in the first half of 2025. It will be developed and will work in partnership with small businesses, local and devolved governments across the UK, focusing on local delivery, to ensure the service provides the information and resources smaller enterprises need from government.

Inspired by successful business support agencies internationally, the Business Growth Service will be an integral part of the Small Business Strategy that will be published in 2025. Led by the government’s industrial strategy as part of the government’s growth mission, this strategy will be central to the Department of Business and Trade’s approach to make it easier and simpler for small British businesses to grow.

The average small business owner spends over 33 hours on internal business administration each month, valuable time that the government aims to decrease through a new streamlined service. Alongside a series of other measures announced in the run up to Small Business Saturday, this confirms the government’s commitment to the UK’s small firms and self-employed individuals who are vital to economic growth. 

Business and trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said: “We said we’d deliver change for small businesses, and that’s exactly what we are doing.

“This government’s Plan for Change will deliver economic growth, and for that to succeed we need SMEs right across the country to be exporting, hiring, and expanding.

“That’s why we’re working tirelessly to ensure every small business has the tools and support at their disposal to thrive.”

The Budget has also pledged to give £1 billion for the British Business Bank to enhance access to finance for smaller businesses through Start Up loans; the ENABLE Build; the Growth Guarantee Scheme and the Life Sciences Investment Programme.

Minister for employment, Alison McGovern MP, said: “This Small Business Saturday let’s support the UK’s incredible small, independent firms.

“We are making sure small business have the skilled staff they need to grow and succeed through our Get Britain Working Plan.

“And if you are a small business owner, I encourage you to think about using our brilliant Jobcentres the next time you need to hire — we stand ready to help you recruit and find your next star employee.”