§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding has been allocated to
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 (to May)
Total Companies making inquiries about the programme 1,481 1,200 1,239 915 242 5,077 Companies receiving pre-project advice from local Support Centres 406 501 577 397 130 2,011 Companies who started projects with local Support Centres 48 107 145 102 47 449 The Programme has been in operation since 1999 and was extended for two years beyond its original plan. It will cease at the end of 2003. A recent survey of a number of companies who have used the Programme showed that their revenues grew by 163 per cent., average profit grew by 141 per cent., productivity grew by 150 per cent., employment grew by 30 per cent. and revenue from new products rose to 48 per cent. of total. Some of the local Support Centres are in discussions with other agencies including the Manufacturing Advisory Service about how to exploit the valuable infrastructure that this Programme has created.
Following the Department's review of Business Support and in response to business concerns, the Department is replacing the large number of existing schemes with fewer, broader and more flexible products concentrating on key drivers of productivity.