Affordable sales advice, web-design support and HR expertise are the areas London enterprises are most lacking in support.

London’s social enterprises are facing big gaps in their support network.

That is the message revealed by figures released today, showing key areas where social enterprises are struggling to find the support they need.

Affordable sales advice, web-design support and HR expertise are the areas most lacking in effective support.
 
The figures come from research commissioned by the London Development Agency in association with Business Link and funded by the Office of the Third Sector.

Nearly 400 social enterprises were surveyed on their needs. Nearly one in four social enterprises in the capital (22%) reported their sales support needs were not being met at all.
 
In order to help plug the gaps in support provision being experienced by social enterprises, Business Link has launched a dedicated service that social enterprises can easily tap into for business support as well as being a simple gateway to the large pool of more specialist support available to them.

Business Link now has new specialist advisors to offer business support and practical workshops on funding and general business advice in close collaboration with social enterprise support organisations. It is also rolling out training to all their front line staff in a range of issues faced by these organisations.
 
The efforts are starting to have an impact.  Amy Bicât, Artistic Co- Director of Artburst Ltd., comments: “We really were in danger of falling down in some pretty key areas.

We have a very strong ethic underpinning our organisation, but finding the right advice to bring in the level of commercial expertise that we need had been a struggle. Linking up with Business Link in London has helped hugely. Speaking with our advisor, we’ve been able to get exactly the right insight that we needed – she understood our business and was able to inject the right guidance at just the right time.”
 
Patrick Elliot, Chief Executive Officer of Business Link in London, commented: “Social enterprises are vital to London’s economy. They provide an essential cornerstone of regeneration in many areas and are home to some of the capital’s most entrepreneurial individuals.
 
“However, these figures show that they’re struggling to find the support they need to thrive. Going forward, using services from organisations like Business Link will be crucial lifeline to social enterprises. It’s vital that we recognise this sector of the business community as having distinct needs. Yes, many of the business issues they face will be common to all small businesses, but having specialist knowledge of the social enterprise model and understanding how they plug into their local communities will be vital in providing them with the right level of advice and guidance.”
 
Predominantly involved with community, education and child services work, social enterprises are widely recognised as a key factor in any kind of long-term regeneration. The capital is home to an estimated 5,000 of them, employing around 192,000.
 

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