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This article analyses small firm responses to a major economic downturn, based on empirical investigation in the UK and New Zealand. Despite differences in the timing and depth of the downturn, there is remarkable similarity in the sectoral composition of small enterprises and methods of financing in reported recession-related effects and business performance during 2008–2009. While recognising that the study focused on surviving businesses, in neither country did the downturn have a consistently negative impact on small businesses and in both countries a significant minority of firms surveyed performed well. The study provides much needed evidence on small businesse responses to major economic crisis. Conceptually it demonstrates that although many small firms are vulnerable to changes in circumstances over which they have no control, they show underlying resilience and a high level of adaptability and flexibility. Longitudinal follow-up is necessary to show how the types of adaptive behaviour observed impact on business performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article charts the development of research on small firms and entrepreneurship in the U.K. over the last 30 years or so and identifies distinctive characteristics of the current orientation of the research field. The paper analyses the rapid increase in the number of researchers contributing to the field over the period, together with its growing legitimacy and institutionalization. One of the key underlying themes is the rich diversity of approaches, reflecting the origins and development path, with clusters of researchers ranging from those with normative objectives to those who view the phenomenon as an object of study. Specific features of the U.K. research field identified include its policy orientation; a rich empirical tradition, with methodological diversity; an emphasis on small firms, and entrepreneurship as a subject for study, rather than an object for promotion; aspects of the boundaries and language of small business and entrepreneurship research; and pre-paradigmatic and middle range theory development i.e., somewhere between grand theory and empirical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with small business development in rural areas and the policy approaches currently being used to support them. The key question underlying the paper is the extent to which small businesses located in rural areas have distinctive support needs, associated with the characteristics of rural businesses themselves or their owners, and/or the characteristics of the external operating environment for business in rural areas. A related question concerns the possible influence of enterprise characteristics and the characteristics of rural areas on how the business support needs of rural businesses are best addressed. The study comprised a desk-based review of existing literature relevant to the support needs of rural enterprises and/or the means of addressing them. It also included primary research on policy initiatives and programmes concerned with enterprise development in rural areas. Telephone interviews were conducted in 2001 with representatives of Business Links with catchments that included rural areas, as well as other key agencies (for example, the Countryside Agency). In addition, twenty-four case studies were completed of rural policy initiatives, based on face-to-face interviews. Following a brief review of key literature, an overview of the policies currently being operated by Business Link is described, based on the survey. This is followed by an identification of good-practice principles of rural business support, based on an analysis of the case-study support initiatives. The paper concludes by identifying the implications of the analysis for future enterprise support policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role that supplier diversity initiatives can play in opening up market opportunities for ethnic minority businesses (EMBs). EMBs have long been encouraged to diversify from inauspicious 'low value' niches; for some, the prospect of contracts with public and private sector organisations could serve as a means of facilitating this process. The advent of the Race Relations Amendment Act provides a legislative stimulus for diversity in public sector procurement. The 'corporate social responsibility' agenda, ostensibly embraced by many leading firms, provides a further impetus to re-assess diversity issues in respect of procurement. Case studies of two types of supplier diversity initiatives are drawn upon to inform this assessment: purchaser initiatives, from both the public and private sector; and intermediary or business-to-business brokerage type initiatives that attempt to facilitate the access of EMBs to potential contract opportunities. It is clear that such initiatives are at an early stage of development, and have to operate within legislative and political constraints. Nonetheless, there is still scope for the development of progressive measures; this is explored in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents findings from a large-scale study of access to finance and business support by ethnic minority businesses in Great Britain. Difficulty posed by raising external finance to small firms; Constraints on borrowing for many small firms; Evidence showing problems faced by ethnic groups in accessing external finance.

Reflecting recent changes in the pattern of ethnic minority business activity in Britain, this paper examines the experiences of firms attempting to break out from the cramped range of generally marginal activities historically occupied by South Asian, African-Caribbean and other immigrant-origin entrepreneurs. Based on in-depth case histories supplemented by a large-scale quantitative survey, the present paper addresses the financial experiences of these firms in the light of the assumption that break-out entails a shift from labour-intensive to capital-intensive activities requiring external financing. Access to bank credit continues to be problematic, with frequent perceptions of racist discrimination even in the case of entrepreneurs with seemingly impressive track records and personal resource endowments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continued political enthusiasm for encouraging entrepreneurship in the UK is beginning to influence business support policy towards black and minority ethnic businesses (BMEBs). The Small Business Service (SBS; the government agency charged with providing business support to small firms in England) has an explicit remit to cater for entrepreneurs from all sections of society. This is an important development given the widely noted reluctance of BMEBs to avail themselves of the services of mainstream business support agencies. This paper aims to assess the extent to which policy aspirations in relation to BMEBs have been realized. A survey of Business Links (the agencies contracted to deliver SBS services in England) and interviews with key informants are drawn upon to address three questions: To what extent do Business Links have a policy to support BMEBs? What form are initiatives to support BMEBs taking? How can these experiences inform a policy agenda towards BMEBs? The findings suggest that uneven and under-developed approaches to the support of BMEBS are commonplace. However, some encouraging examples of potentially fruitful initiatives are in evidence, which may reflect a growing awareness of the particular needs of BMEBs. A number of guidelines for future policy are presented, including the importance of diversity within mainstream provision; the need for an engagement strategy; improved access to finance; the promotion of sectoral diversity; and better evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the importance of high-growth start-up program in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policy in Great Britain. Improvement on the management of the business; Assessment on the financial needs of the business; Opinion of the businessmen on the start-up program.

Focuses on the business policy of ethnic minority in Great Britain. Assessment on the business-led organizations; Improvement on the quality of smaller firms; Demands of the regulation.

The growth of local enterprise agencies (LEAs) has been an important focus for private sector involvement in local economic development in Great Britain in the 1980s. The growing importance of the partnership approach to economic development raises issues concerned with its costs and benefits in comparison with an approach which is more clearly under public sector control. A key issue concerns the lack of democratic accountability of organizations which are expanding their range of activities at a time when the scope for local authority involvement in economic development is being restricted by central government.

Investigates the implications of the European Single Market process for small and medium enterprises in the food manufacturing sector in Great Britain. Effects of changes in the regulatory regime and trade effects; Hostile and external environment for small and medium enterprises in the food processing sector; Aim of the paper's policy agenda.

The authors investigate the relative roles of a number of influences on workplace health and safety in small firms and, more specifically, the adoption of compliance-related improvement measures. From findings drawn from a survey of over a thousand British small enterprises, marked variations in firm behaviour with respect to health and safety were found, underlining the heterogeneity of small firms in this respect, and the way such behaviour reflects their varied contexts. Factors identified as being particularly associated with a propensity to make compliance-related improvements were: regulatory enforcement activity, use of external assistance with respect to health and safety issues, enterprise size and growth performance, management training and experience, and membership of trade or business associations. Although, as a group, ethnic-minority businesses were found to be neither more or less likely to make improvements of this type compared with their white-owned counterparts, detailed analysis revealed that such variations did exist between individual ethnic groupings; variations that are themselves seen to reflect a number of factors, particularly the employment size and sectoral context. Primarily the authors conclude that inspections on the part of regulatory officials are the most important influence, although there is some scope for more innovative approaches to encouraging compliance-related improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examine the provision of enterprise support to ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) in five cities in the United Kingdom. The central focus is on the nature of support provision, including relationship with the commercial banks. It is well established that EMBs are underrepresented as clients of mainstream providers of enterprise support, such as Business Links in England, or Local Enterprise Companies in Scotland, and that participation and practice, even with specialist ethnic agencies, is highly variable. The authors discuss evidence from research undertaken through a programme of thirty-three face-to-face interviews with respondents from a cross-section of support agencies in five city locations in which EMBs are concentrated, namely, London, Leicester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. They discuss evidence from the face-to-face interviews in the light of previous research findings, developing implications for future support policy for EMBs. They highlight good practice, identify gaps in provision, and suggest policies which can improve the access of EMBs to support and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]