Social Enterprise
Business Support
Business Link
Web: www.businesslink.org
Tel: 0845 600 9006
Business Link is the national business advice service, offering
support and advice to small businesses. The website provides straightforward
information on business needs and access to a wide network of
business support organisations. It includes a Business Support
directory of government grants and schemes and advice on starting
a small business.
Charities Aid Foundation
Web: www.cafonline.org
CAF offer advice on all issues facing the voluntary sector across
the world, including:
- a full consultancy service and a team of advisors who can
help a charitable organisation to organise everything from its
fiscal management to its marketing strategy;
- background information on seminars, study visits and advice
on merging; and
- background information on a study looking at worldwide trends
of social enterprises.
Community Matters
Web: www.communitymatters.org.uk
Tel: 0870 7272 373
This site offers a wealth of resources to aid community minded
organisations. It offers advice on business consultancy, employment
matters, copyright issues and training. It puts users in contact
with various consultants as well as allowing them to attend the
training sessions offline, and it has a well-developed links page,
offering avenues to other Government websites outlining legislative
issues.
Learndirect
Web: www.learndirect.co.uk/
The learndirect Advice service works alongside many organisations
to promote lifelong learning. Its site contains a database of
nationwide courses, as well as specially designed learndirect
courses offering business training.
Phoenix Fund
Web: www.sbs.gov.uk/phoenix
A national Phoenix Fund was announced by the Secretary of State
for Trade and Industry in November 1999, designed to encourage
entrepreneurship in disadvantaged areas. Due to a lack of support,
advice and access to finance, entrepreneurs in disadvantaged areas
experience even greater difficulties in launching their ideas
than somebody starting a new business generally faces. The Phoenix
Fund helps these new businesses by providing assistance to business
support providers and finance to Community Development Finance
Institutions.
The Fund currently includes:
- a development fund to promote innovative ways of supporting
enterprise in deprived areas (England only);
- a pilot network of volunteer mentors to pre and early start-up
businesses, through the Business Volunteer Mentoring Association
(England only);
- a Challenge Fund to help resource CDFIs (England only);
- a Community Development Venture Fund (CDVF) to create a venture
capital fund for SMEs in disadvantaged communities (parts of
England only);
- loan guarantees to encourage commercial and charitable lending
to CDFIs (UK wide); and
- City Growth Strategies (CGS) designed to encourage towns and
cities to develop and implement strategies which put enterprise
and business at the heart of regeneration. Four pilot projects
are operating in Nottingham, Plymouth, St Helens and parts of
London.
The website also provides links to other potential sources of
finance.
Small Business Service
Web: www.sbs.gov.uk
Tel: 0845 600 9006
The Small Business Service offers a comprehensive service to
SMEs. The website includes useful advice on sources of funding,
regulations which can affect small businesses, exploiting innovation
and improving efficiency, and a variety of statistics, papers
and studies.
A selection of sources of information for social enterprise follows:
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