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Enterprise and Small Business

The Enterprise Directorate within BIS works across Whitehall, the Regional Development Agencies and key delivery partners to ensure that Government – national, regional and local – understands and responds to the needs of entrepreneurs and small businesses.

BIS's Enterprise Directorate retains specialist expertise in policies to both strengthen the enterprise environment for small businesses and to enable more people and communities to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. The Enterprise Directorate's policy work is supported by a strong research, statistical and analytical function, and it maintains international links, especially with other EU member states and with the United States.

Supporting British business in the current economic climate

The Government’s vision is to make the UK the most enterprising economy in the world and the best place to start and grow a business. BIS is working closely with business groups to support them at this challenging time, and has recently announced measures including:

• Banks accessing government capital support will commit to maintain the availability and active marketing of competitively priced lending to SMEs at a level at least equivalent to that of 2007. A new Small Business Finance Forum will bring lenders and the business community together.
   
• Central Government will pay all bills within 10 days, and we are working to speed payments across the public and private sector.
   
• Business Link will provide free Health Checks for all businesses on demand: hands on advice from qualified experts to help identify problems early and survive in the current financial climate.
   
• Through Train to Gain, SMEs in England can now access extra support to ensure employees have the skills and business knowledge they need.

Enterprise Strategy

On 12 March 2008, the Government set out the framework for driving forward enterprise policy over the next decade. This Strategy for enterprise underlines Government's vision to make the UK the most enterprising economy in the world and the best place to start and grow a business. The Strategy has been published jointly by BIS and HM Treasury – more details can be found here.

European Small Business Act

The European Small Business Act was formally agreed by Member States on the 1st December 2008.

European Small Business Act

Enterprise statistics

• At the start of 2007 there were 4.7 million businesses, over 950 thousand (25%) more than in 2000.
   
• 99.9% of UK businesses are SMEs (at the start of 2007).
  
  
• SMEs employ 13.5 million people- 59.2 per cent of the total private sector workforce.
  
  
• SMEs contribute as much as large business to UK output (50 per cent of Gross Value Added) and turnover (51.5 per cent).
  
  
• The World Bank ranks the UK second in Europe, and in the top ten economies (out of 181) on measures of the ease of doing business.

Last updated November 2008