South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

Business Link is the primary access point for all government funded business support. This national business information, advice and support service exists to help:

• anyone thinking of starting a business
• small and medium-sized businesses to grow
• business owners deal with problems, challenges and opportunities

In the South East, the Business Link service is funded by SEEDA and operated by six Business Link Providers (BLPs), offering local points of access into the service for the following areas:

• Berkshire
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight
• Kent
• Milton Keynes , Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire
• Surrey
• Sussex

The core Business Link offer has evolved into an impartial IDB (Informing, Diagnosing and Brokerage) service, designed to support the development of small and medium-sized businesses, by:

• providing them with relevant, up-to-date and timely information
• diagnosing their particular needs
• brokering businesses to the most appropriate sources of specialist support available – from the broadest range of public, private and voluntary business support services
• monitoring their ongoing needs to ensure they continue to get the help they want

Anyone running a business or thinking about becoming their own boss, can access information, advice and support, by calling 0845 600 9 006 or visiting www.businesslink.gov.uk/southeast.

For the latest Business Link news, click here.

Across the South East region, Business Link:

• Supports over 100,000 businesses per year
• Has helped 57,000 aspiring entrepreneurs over the last three years
• Is highly regarded by customers. Independent research shows that 9 out of 10 are satisfied. 3 out of 4 would definitely recommend Business Link or had already done so

According to a national study*, for every £1 spent in government funding, Business Link achieved £2.26 of additional value to the economy as a result of better business performance.

* The Early Stage Evaluation of the Economic Impact of Business Link Local Services, commissioned by Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR)