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Business Growth Service winding down

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is winding down the Business Growth Service (BGS) including Growth Accelerator and the Manufacturing Advisory Service, Enterprise Nation has learnt.

The move is part of the 17% cut in BIS' budget announced in the chancellor's Spending Review on Wednesday.

The schemes, aimed at helping businesses grow, will close to new applicants on Monday 30 November.

A statement on the BGS website says: "As part of the Spending Review settlement the government has decided to wind down the national delivery of the Business Growth Service.

"On 26 November 2015 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills issued a formal instruction to providers of the Business Growth Service: Not to enter into any further contractual commitments with customers after 23:59 Monday 30 November, that all contractual commitments should be honoured, as long as all support and related activity is completed by 31 March 2016."

Small business minister Anna Soubry said: "The most important way we can help small businesses is to continue to secure a strong, growing economy and that’s exactly what this government is doing. We'll keep cutting red tape and have extended small business rate relief for an extra year, freeing up small firms to do what they do best.

"Where taxpayers' money is used to provide support, this is best done at the local level which is why we're providing further funding to Growth Hubs and away from Whitehall."

The government is providing further funding for England's 'Growth Hubs', £12m in 2016/17 and £12m in 2017/2018, which give Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) ownership of helping small firms to scale-up. There will be 39 hubs by April 2016 covering every LEP area in England.

Launched in 2012, Growth Accelerator (GA) is a £200m scheme designed to help up to 26,000 small businesses in England grow. Businesses selected to benefit from the initiative are matched with subsidised business advisers and coaches.

On its launch, the then business secretary, Vince Cable, said: "With targeted support we are giving entrepreneurs a fantastic opportunity to take their businesses forward to succeed both here and abroad."

The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) was originally set up in 2002. It was re-launched in 2012 when the Regional Development Agencies were abolished and became a national organisation.

In 2014, GA and MAS were grouped together under the Business Growth Service which also includes Access to Finance, a scheme to help growth companies secure funding.

The Bank is currently seeking delivery partners for a £100m pilot, with expressions of interest open until the end of December.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, said: "The closing of the Growth Accelerator scheme shows that the government clearly expects the private sector to take over its small business support function.

"We'd like to see funding for such schemes come directly from big business and make sure they are directed at the next generation of start-ups for the good of the British economy as a whole. Enterprise Nation is already doing this. Next year we're taking digital workshops on the road and scaling up our international trade missions to help even more small businesses Go Global.

"The Enterprise Nation marketplace, which is already home to 13,000 small business advisers will expand yet further so advice can be delivered by small businesses, for small business.

"The support and advice that today's business owner needs does not need to be supplied directly by government. In our view, the role of government is to set the conditions of growth; confidence in the economy, decent broadband, good travel links etc and then let small businesses get on with what they do best."