Schemes move to fill gap of Link demise

Business Link Yorkshire, a taxpayer-funded business advice service, closed on Friday after being scrapped as part of the Government’s austerity measures.

Nine local businessmen and women have reacted by forming a team to provide advice to SMEs and owner-managed firms in Yorkshire, operating under the banner of Advisers4U.

Founder of Advisers4U Paul Carter said: “Now that funding is being removed from agencies like Business Link the private sector should step up and provide the kind of one to one support needed to develop the outstanding potential we have in small, medium size and owner-managed businesses across Yorkshire.

“The members of Advisers4U, all of whom live in West Yorkshire, are specialists in their chosen fields, and will work collaboratively with people they know and trust to provide a single place for SMEs and owner-managed firms to go to for practical business advice and implementation across a wide range of specialist areas.”

Meanwhile, a new division of accountancy firm Clough & Company, known as BusinessWiser, is being launched.

Danny Pickering, who is heading up the team of four advisers at BusinessWiser, who all previously worked for Business Link, said: “The Government is pushing a new mentoring scheme as an alternative, but numerous surveys have found that SMEs are reluctant to use it due to widespread concern about the quality and consistency of the scheme at a time when businesses owners are facing challenging economic times.

“What we will be offering SME owners and managers is the opportunity to access some of the most entrepreneurial and forward thinking brains in the region. All our advisers have owned a business of their own and demonstrated that they have a successful track record in helping others do the same.”