News

British Business Bank supports small business advice week

  • Businesses that get external support are between 15% and 25% more likely to become high growth firms
  • Research finds 81% of smaller businesses sought no advice when applying for external finance last year
  • British Business Bank Non-Executive Director and former ‘dragon’ Piers Linney offers business mentoring session as competition prize

The majority of smaller businesses do not seek advice when applying for external finance to grow their business, despite the fact that having access to the right information can make the difference between success and failure, Piers Linney, the former Dragons’ Den investor, says today.

Latest Government figures show that smaller businesses which access external advice or information on matters affecting their business are between 15% and 25% more likely to become high growth firms.

Yet recent research from British Business Bank found that 81% did not seek advice when applying for external finance last year, and that only 14% researched finance options online.

The research also found that smaller businesses’ awareness of alternatives to traditional finance has been growing but remains low, with a third (33%) of small businesses still seeking funding from their main bank when they need finance.

Businesses with growth ambitions need to look beyond the high street when seeking funding, says Piers Linney, who is a Non-Executive Director at British Business Bank.

Piers was speaking at the start of Small Business Advice Week, during which British Business Bank is encouraging the UK’s 5.7 million smaller businesses to seek advice and independent information on finding the finance best suited to their needs.

Piers Linney, Non-Executive Director at British Business Bank, said: “Getting support and investment for your business does not have to be as daunting as going into the Dragons’ Den. There are many ways to get access to finance and business support – the challenge is knowing where to look and making the time to find out about them. Getting reliable, independent information on your finance options can make the difference between success and failure.”

British Business Bank is committed to enabling smaller businesses understand and explore the finance options available to them. It has developed the Finance Hub, an interactive website dedicated to providing independent and impartial information on the finance options available for growing businesses.

Business mentoring competition

During Small Business Advice Week, Piers Linney will be offering expert advice to businesses during radio interviews. He will also be giving UK-based companies the opportunity to win a half-day business mentoring session.

More details on how to enter the competition.

Case study

Taking advice paid off for the founders of Rejuicenate, the winners of last year’s competition, who recently opened their first permanent juice bar in a local health food shop. Based in Liverpool, the business manufactures cold-pressed juices which are stocked in select restaurants, cafes and gyms throughout the city.

Leith Taha, Co-Founder & CEO of Rejuicenate, said: “Piers and his team came to Liverpool and spent the entire day with us talking about our business as well as spending time in the Rejuicenate kitchen. He changed the way we think about our brand locally and worked with us on our strategy to help drive our business in our own community.”

“I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for that day with Piers, Rejuicenate would not be half the business it is today. Today we have our own store in the city centre and distribute to a number of local businesses as well as people. To know we have such an experienced and respected entrepreneur in our corner has proved invaluable.”

ENDS

For further information or any questions please contact:

Further information

Scott Shearer

Senior Communications Manager

0203 772 1351 / 07770 704 761

Scott.Shearer@british-business-bank.co.uk

Suzanna Jebbitt

Communications Manager

0203 772 1340 / 07827 552301

Suzanna.jebbitt@british-business-bank.co.uk

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank is currently supporting more than £6.6bn of finance to over 89,000 smaller businesses (as at end of March 2019).

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses:

  • The Business Finance Guide (published in partnership with the ICAEW and a further 21 business and finance organisations) impartially sets out the range of finance options available to businesses at all stages – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies. Businesses can take the interactive journey at thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk.
  • The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.