ENTERPRISE AGENCIES — THEIR ROLE IN ASSISTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SMALL FIRMS

In recent years much attention in the UK has been given to encouraging the establishment and development of viable small firms in order to generate job creation and economic growth. Enterprise agencies, set up by local companies, local authorities and others interested in developing the economic life of the community, have taken a major role in advising and guiding individuals who are starting their own small businesses. Enterprise agencies illustrate the growing importance of the concentration of effort within a community based upon local resources, as opposed to more traditional approaches aimed at bringing in jobs from outside the area by attracting inward investment. Reference is made to the type of services rendered by the agencies which small firm managers and directors find most useful when establishing their businesses. Observations are made about how the counselling relationship develops between the agency and the small firm in the critical early months. With over 250 enterprise agencies in existence, the UK is among the most active of EEC countries in taking positive local initiatives which aid the development of small firms.