Jonathan Reuvid, Mark Parkinson - The CBI Skills and Training Handbook 3rd Edition

I am pleased to have been invited once more to provide a Foreword to
The Corporate Finance Handbook.
The Small Business Service is now well into its second year of operation
and has made substantial progress towards its aim of making the
United Kingdom the best place in the world in which to set up and
run a business. The revamped Business Link network in England is
now complete, providing a simple route to information and advice for
small businesses through a single access point. The other elements of
the gateway are also now in place – including a call centre, website
and knowledge base. In developing these, the SBS has called upon
expert knowledge contained in publications such as The Corporate
Finance Handbook.
For this edition, the SBS has provided details of the initiatives it is
taking forward in the area of SME finance. Alongside its well-established
national programmes, such as the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme
and the Smart scheme, the SBS has created a UK High Technology
Fund and Regional Venture Capital Funds – the latter should start
making investments in growth businesses in the regions later in the
year. The SBS is also taking forward measures aimed at helping small
businesses to better understand the financing options available and to
be better prepared to take on an investment. Further details of these
initiatives are provided in Chapter 1.3.