The UK Business Growth Service is closing. No bad thing. The approximate replacement, Regional Growth Hubs, will not set the world alight.
Subsidised provision of services supposed to support small, growing businesses has not done much more than spawn an industry of providers who know how to tap into the subsidies. A direct link between the subsidy and actual growth has been difficult, if not impossible, to prove.
The reality is most small businesses do not grow. Their ambition is to survive well. A few have both the potential and the ambition (P&A) to become large. Finding this group has been difficult.
It’s easy to find start up businesses with huge ambitions but without a proven, solid foundation on which to build. They create a lot of noise but the hard truth is that most (80%?) will fail within 18 months.
The Growth Hubs will not solve the problem of connecting with established businesses which have P&A. As should be expected, the management of these companies tend to just get on with it. Their usual experience, should they identify a need for some support, is one of frustration. They tend to prefer selecting their own support providers whereas any government-funded scheme will prescribe defined support from a limited “approved” list of providers.
To be continued……
New Iterations 