WORKSHEET EC2: BUSINESS SUPPORT
TASK: to find out what business support services and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are used by local businesses and
1. identify if these are effective
2. point up where things could be improved
1: Introduction to the task
All businesses need advice, information, funds or other support at some stage. Many very small rural businesses prefer to secure some help from their banks, accountants, families and trade associates, rather than through public business support organisations. However, some businesses need help with compliance with regulations and should seek it from local or national regulators and the Environmental Health Office or the Health and Safety Executive.
To help you draw conclusions about how the support available to businesses could develop you may need to
- Look at findings from monitoring of public sector funding initiatives
- Evaluate the number of enquiries to Business Support Agencies in relation to the total number of businesses
- Identify how easily information on business support services can be obtained
Organisations, which may hold useful information, include:
- the economic development department of the Local Authority
- the regional development agency
- the town centre manager or forum
- the business volunteer mentoring association
- the Business Link Operator
- the Chamber of Trade and Commerce
- the local business associations
2: Getting the following information will help you decide how support for business - or access to that support - needs to be improved. If there is not enough information available to answer the questions, you could carry out an audit of facilities to find out about the work of business community support agencies in the area.
Sub Section 1: Support available to businesses
EC2 Q1
What services are offered to businesses by local bank branches?
Starting points for information
Local Business Directory
Q1 DRAFT ANSWER: Both Barclays and Lloyds TSB have branches in Yateley.
NatWest closed its branch. HSBC/Midland never had a branch in Yateley. Both Barclays and Lloyds TSB used to offer a full service to businesses, but businesses are now serviced from Camberley, or in some cases, from Reading. Businesses can perform basic services such as paying in cash and cheques.
EC2 Q2
Which of the following organisations have a presence in the town?
a. Small Business Service
b. Business Link
c. Chambers of Trade or Commerce
d. Learning and Skills Council
e. Enterprise Agency
f. Local food network/partnership or farm advisory service
(Worksheets EN2 Q15,16; EN3 Q5; also refer to land-based industries)
Starting points for information
Yellow Pages
Business Directory
Regional Development Agency
Q2 DRAFT ANSWER: None of the services listed in the question have a presence in Yateley.
Business Link Wessex covers Yateley. They have 4 offices in Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Dorset. The nearest office is in Fareham. The local Business Link operator is
Enterprise First (formerly called Blackwater Valley Enterprise Trust) 01252 319272 located in Aldershot. The nearest office of the Learning and Skills Council is in Woking.
There is no longer a Chamber of Commerce operating in Yateley. It was absorbed into the North East Hants Chamber of Commerce based in Basingstoke. This has caused a void in the town which the Town Council is seeking to fill by organising and managing Yateley Business Forum. The latter is, among other roles, the Business & Shopping Topic Group for the Yateley Parish Plan.
Yateley companies which require export documents to be certified and/or legalised are likely to be members of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group, which has an International Trade Services department in Slough. Yateley companies are likely to belong to Reading Chamber of Commerce, Bracknell Forest Chamber of Commerce or Wokingham Chamber of Commerce. None of the clearers now provide international trade services facilities within the nearby regional centres.
EC2 Q3
How well used are business support agencies such as:
a. Business Link Operator
b. Business Links
c. Chambers of Trade or Commerce
d. Learning and Skills Council
e. Enterprise Agency
f. FRA/National Association of Farmers’ Markets
Starting points for information
Register of Business Enquiries
Business Directory
District Council Business Surveys
EC2 Q4
a. What previous business support or initiatives have been available/been used?
b. What is the evidence of these initiatives proving successful?
Starting points for information
District Council
the Business Link Operator
the Regional Development Agency
EC2 Q5
If the town has a town centre manager, town centre forum or similar partnership organisation, who are they?
If there is more than one town centre manager, town centre forum or similar partnership organisation find out if there is an overlap between their services/ remit.
(Worksheets EN2 Q11; EN3 Q1; S4 also refer to community involvement)
Starting points for information
District Council
Local knowledge
Q5 DRAFT ANSWER: Yateley does not have a town centre manager, town centre forum or similar partnership. There has been a Town Centre Management Group in existence since 1984, but rarely has there been any representatives from business serving on it. It was mainly comprised of local councillors, officers and representatives of the civic trust and other voluntary organisations
EC2 Q6
What results have there been from any existing town centre management work?
you need to evaluate any results of monitoring and funding reviews, and also identify examples of good practice or ways in which activities could be extended.
Starting points for information
Town Centre Manager (this may be the District Council, one of the local business advice centres, or a consortium of local businesses).
Q6 DRAFT ANSWER: Until 2001 the Town Centre Management Group was unsuccessful in achieving any positive change in the town centre (see
previous town centre plans. Since 2001 the Town Centre Management Group have worked with the Town & County Councils to develop the
YATELEY VILLAGE DESIGN FRAMEWORK for the area from the Hall Lane roundabout to the Cricket Hill roundabout. The Town Centre Management Group has now been absorbed into Parish Plans Steering Group, covering the whole of the Civil Parish of Yateley. Phase I is the Church End Environmental Improvement Scheme which will be implemented in the summer of 2006. Phase II will deal with the
commercial area to the east. Consultants (W S Atkins) have been appointed by the County Council, working in partnership with the Parish Plans Steering Group.
Sub section 2: Business networking
EC2 Q7
What regular events are there to bring the business community together; for example, breakfast clubs and trade fairs?
Find out:
a. what they are
b. how often they are held
Starting points for information
Business Link Operator
Chamber of Commerce
Q7 DRAFT ANSWER: The Yateley Business Forum, organised and managed by Yateley Town Council, brings together about 30 local business people once every other month. At present it meets at the Blackwater Valley Golf Club by the kind invitation of the proprietors. There is a chance to network at the meetings.
EC2 Q8
What arrangements are there for local suppliers to be able to network? Examples may include a Business Directory or website for the town.
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Local business people
Q8 DRAFT ANSWER: The only means of networking within the town is at the Yateley Business Forum. The Blackwater Valley Business Network is operated by Enterprise First in Aldershot. There is no specific business directory or website for the town. This Yateley Parish Plan website is
attempting to fill the gap
Q8 NOTES: Check with Enterprise First whether any Yateley businesses network using the Blackwater Valley Business Network.
EC2 Q9
What business meeting and business conference venues are available?
a. Are these venues available when needed?
b. Are these venues big enough?
c. Are these venues available at reasonable rates?
Starting points for information
Local surveys
Yellow Pages
Chamber of Commerce
Local businesses
Q9 DRAFT ANSWER: There are no purpose built business meeting and business conference venues available within Yateley. There are several conference centres locally ieg in Eversley, Heckfield and Elvetham.
Sub section 3: IT and e-business
EC2 Q 10
Is there a published strategy relating to the use of information and communication technology (ICT)?
a. Is the strategy readily available?
b. Is the strategy easily understood?
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Q10 DRAFT ANSWER: There is no published local ICT strategy for Yateley.
EC2 Q11
What local training and support is there to help companies address ICT problems and to develop their ICT capability?
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Business Link Operator
Local surveys
Q11 NOTES: As far as we know the only ICT support is available from private local firms. Training can be obtained locally in adult education classes, in courses run by U3A, or, if the company belongs to a Chamber of Commerce in a nearby regional centre in the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group, from their formal training courses.
EC2 Q12
What is/will be the availability of high-speed Internet access (at 512 kbits/second and at 2Mbit/ second) :
a. Now
b. In 6 months’ time
c. In 12 months’ time
Starting points for information
www.bt.com/broadband
www.adslguide.org.uk
Q10 DRAFT ANSWER: 8Mb broadband is now available from Yateley exchange, together with 114 other of the 123 exchanges in Hampshire. BT states that this will "enable remote diagnostics and medical facilities, teaching, caring, social services, policing," plus "plenty of bandwith to work from home and watch TV at the same time."
Broadband has long been available at 512Kb and 2Mb has been available throughout Yateley since early 2005. 8Mb braodband has been available from BT since June 2006
It is highly likely that all local businesses use broadband and email since it is now not greatly more expensive than dial-up used to be. Putting "yateley" into Google currently produces 877,000 hits. Five years ago there were only a couple of hundred hits. Many Yateley businesses and local organisations have their own websites, and many small businesses are listed on websites set up to help locate their services.
It is not therefore felt necessary to answer the next questions EC2 Q13 to EC2 Q17 in detail since technology and practice has moved on since these Health Check questions were first posed. New questions now arise, which have been placed at the end of this section.
EC2 Q13
a. What proportion of all businesses use broadband?
b. What local businesses are considering using broadband in the near future?
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Business Link Operator or by
Local surveys
EC2 Q14
What do local businesses see as the key benefits of using broadband?
Examples could be: speed, convenience, cost savings, access to wider markets, increased customer contact, faster response, access to wider resources, business innovation.
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Business Link Operator
Local surveys
EC2 Q15
Why do some local businesses not use broadband?
Reasons may include:
a. Difficulty with availability
b. Financial cost
c. Too time consuming
e. No business advantage
f. No ICT support available
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Business Link Operator
Local surveys
EC2 Q16
How many local businesses
a. Use e-mail?
b. Have a website?
c. Make purchases or sales over the Internet?
d. Gain access to key business resources over the Internet?
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Business Link Operator
Local surveys
Q16 NOTES: The most interesting question currently will be to find out how many companies are webtrading, and may be selling products from their homes or shops
EC2 Q17
How many local businesses collaborate over the Internet with partner firms?
Look here at cluster or supply chain relationships
Starting points for information
Chamber of Commerce
Business Link Operator
local survey.
EC2 Q18
a. Which public sector offices and sites currently have broadband communication facilities for external access?
b. What proportion is this of all public sector office locations?
(Worksheets S2 Q5; S4; S5 Q10; S7 Q6; T2 Q11,12; T3 Q16 also refer to local government services)
Starting points for information
Local Authorities
Q8 DRAFT ANSWER: All public sector offices now use broadband. Yateley Town Council has a modern private
WiFi network in its offices.
EC2 Q19
a. What is the location of WiFi hotspots in the area?
b. Are there any plans to expend the coverage?
THIS IS AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION
Q19 DRAFT ANSWER:
WiFi is available at the Texaco Service Station, 13 Reading Road, and at the Cricketers Public House, Cricket Hill. Both services are 802.11b.
Hotspot at Texaco Service Station, Reading Road is on the T-Mobile network. It can also be accessed by BTopenzone customers with monthly accounts, but not by BT customers using vouchers.
Hotspot at Cricketers Public House, Cricket Hill is on the Boingo network.
The Tythings, Yateley Green** is listed as having a hotspot on The Cloud WiFi network. This was located in a gaming machine in the pub on the first floor. Yateley Town Council have now closed this pub (June 2006) and the gaming machine has been removed. The hotspot is no longer available.
There are no WiFi hotspots in Hawley, Blackwater, Minley or Sandhurst. The nearest BTopenzone hotspots are at the M3 services between junctions 4A and 5 and at the Lamb in Hartley Wintney.
It is not known whether other Yateley businesses or government agencies plan to extend the network, but expansion could become an objective of the community plan
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