Asked by: Baroness Mone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase (1) support for mentoring services and (2) the number of businesses and public sector organisations participating in mentoring programs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We aim to make the UK the best place to start, grow and run a business. The Government provides a wide range of support and information for small businesses. The main source of information is the GOV.UK website, with support also available via the Business Support Helpline on FREEPHONE 0800 998 1098 and via the network of 38 local Growth Hubs in England.
We also provide grant funding to Be the Business, a business-led independent charity. Be the Business is delivering executive leadership and management training, expert mentoring, place-based collaborative peer networks and free online advice and benchmarking tools, including around digitalisation, to help SMEs identify practical steps to transform their business.
For those starting a new business or for businesses which have been trading for up to 24 months, the Start Up Loans Company provides loans of between £500 to £25,000 at a competitive rate of 6%. In addition to finance, every loan recipient is offered a dedicated mentoring service and access to a free expert business mentor for 12 months to help them with every aspect of setting up a business.
There are 2,000 places available on the Small Business Leadership Programme which is being delivered by experts from university business schools and will teach participants how to maximise their business’s potential by improving productivity, organisation, and efficiency. There are also 6,000 places on the Peer Networks programme which is focused on helping business owners improve their problem-solving skills through a series of guided exercises.
Further measures include the Young Innovators Programme, launched by Innovate UK and the Prince’s Trust to support young entrepreneurs with tailored mentoring and access to £5,000 funding. Innovate UK have also established the Women in Innovation awards, where 10 female inventors will be awarded with a cash boost of £50,000 each, as well as receive vital business support to help them develop and grow their business, including coaching and mentoring.
Asked by: Baroness Mone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship, published on 8 March 2019, what progress they have made in increasing the number of female entrepreneurs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In response to the Alison Rose Review, the government has set out an ambition to increase the number of female entrepreneurs by 50% by 2030, equivalent to nearly 600,000 additional female entrepreneurs.
In order to help realise this ambition, over the past year the Government has worked closely with industry to implement the eight recommendations of the Rose Review. The Rose Review Board, which is co-chaired by BEIS and HM Treasury Ministers, has been established to oversee progress, which includes:
Asked by: Baroness Mone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day on 27 June.
Answered by Lord Henley
Our business environment is amongst the best in the world and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are the backbone of our economy, playing a key role in helping the UK remain the best place to start and grow a small business.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly, recognising the importance of these enterprises, has declared 27 June the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day which we support through the ongoing work of our modern Industrial Strategy. Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are doing even more to ensure the UK remains the best place in the world to start and grow a business – whether that is through creating the right environment for business; investing in research; creating a workforce skilled for the future or taking hold of the opportunities EU exit presents for trade.
Through programmes operated by the Government-owned British Business Bank they are currently supporting over £5.5bn of finance to over 78,000 SMEs; and since its launch in 2012, the Start-Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered more than 59,000 loans, totalling over £450m.