§ 14. Mr. Richard Pageasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his Department's Support for Marketing initiative.
§ Mr. ButcherThis new advisory service will be introduced by the Department later this year. It is intended to assist and encourage small and medium-sized firms to develop or improve their marketing strategies by offering financial assistance for up to 15 man days' expert consultancy in this important area of their operations.
§ Mr. PageI am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree with the old adage which runs, "If you don't tell you don't sell"? What reassurances can he and the Government give that the new initiative will not suffer from the shortage of funds which has unfortunately affected the business and technical advisory service?
§ Mr. ButcherSome of Britain's critics have sometimes said that, although we might be excellent at developing products, we are perhaps not so good at marketing them. The scheme is a response to those who requested an enhancement of training and consultancy, especially small and medium-sized companies. I understand that success has caused the problem of queues in the business and technical advisory service, especially as we have multiplied by five times the amount of money 704 that is spent on that general scheme during the past four years. I take my hon. Friend's point. We shall act to ensure that the queues are shortened.