Small Businesses (Hansard, 14 May 1993)

§ Mr. David Hunt

As well as helping entrepreneurs set up new businesses through the business start-up programme, I support a broad range of measures designed to help existing small businesses to grow. Measures include regional selective assistance, regional enterprise grant, Enterprise Wales consultancy support, overseas trade missions and export advice, skills development support and technology initiatives.

In October 1992, I set up the enterprise and business support working group with representatives from the public and private sectors. The group has been comprehensively reviewing business support services in Wales and will shortly be making recommendations, particularly about improving access for the small business man to available assistance. A range of other measures which assist the small business sector include:

Regional Selective Assistance, Regional Enterprise Grant Small businesses continue to take advantage of the help available under regional selective assistance. In the year to end of April 1993, 124 small firms, employing up to 200 people, accepted offers of RSA. The value of these offers amount to £21.7 million. A further 156 small firms, employing fewer than 25 people, or 50 in the case of innovation projects, accepted offers of regional enterprise grant totalling £2.24 million.

Enterprise Wales Launched in January 1988, the consultancy initiatives have proved extremely popular in Wales. More than 6,476 companies have applied. In 1992–93 alone, 1,299 applicants were received, 30 per cent. above the economic weight, and 1,186 business reviews were commissioned, 42 per cent. above the economic weight.

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Overseas Trade Services My Department's overseas trade services branch provides in Wales those export advisory services which are made available by the Department of Trade and Industry in England. In addition, I have recently introduced for small and medium-sized enterprises based in Wales, a programme of 24 subsidised trade missions over the next three years. A trade fair representative service, which allows small firms to place their literature at selected trade fairs, which I initiated last year, has already begun to pay dividends for many of the participating firms.

Small Firms Merit Award for Research and Technology (SMART) The number of small Welsh companies which received a SMART stage I award during the past 12 months was 16, and nine companies received the SMART stage 2 awards. The maximum value of each stage 1 award is £45,000 and the maximum award is £60,000. On a per-capita basis, Wales has continued to do better than most other regions in this annual competition, receiving about 9 per cent. of the total awards nationwide.

Support for Products Under Research (SPUR) This scheme, which was introduced in 1991 is intended to support highly innovative projects by companies employing up to 500 persons. During the second year of its operation, offers of financial assistance were made to nine Welsh companies, to a total value of £960,443.

Managing in the 90s Managing in the 90s is an umbrella scheme encompassing a number of programmes designed to encourage the growth of small and medium sized businesses. Initially focusing on four areas of industrial performance—design, production, purchasing and quality—it has recently been expanded to include marketing and new product introduction.

WDA and DBRW The Welsh Development Agency provides established small businesses with advice and financial support to assist their growth, helps them to establish business links in other EC countries and helps them to exploit new technologies. The agency also seeks to ensure that an adequate supply of industrial and commercial workspace is available. The Development Board for Rural Wales has delivered a comprehensive programme to stimulate interest in business creation and to help business start-ups. This has been achieved by establishing a network of seven business centres in partnership with the region's local authorities and local enterprise agencies. In 1992–93 the agencies provided a total of £273,000 in direct grant support to Wales's 22 local enterprise agencies.

Training and Enterprise Councils The training and enterprise councils in Wales are responsible for running a range of measures which assist small businesses. They are continuing to develop provision to help new and existing businesses to acquire and build on skills which will enable them to compete and grow. During the last financial year, Welsh TECs trained more than 12,700 owner-managers and helped more than 2,676 people to start their own new businesses. In addition TECs handled over 41,000 inquiries through business information services and provided 8,800 counselling sessions for new and existing small businesses.