UK Business Barometer

The second pilot UK Business Adviser Barometer (UKBAB) survey questionnaire was sent out in mid-October 2002 and received 130 responses.

The survey is designed to examine the areas of expertise offered by Business Advisers to their clients and also the Advisers' insights into the current difficulties being faced by smaller companies in the UK in the marketplace and the trading environment.

The October survey focused on the marketplace for business advice, the impending effects of the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act, how business advisers would advise the government to encourage enterprise, ease for clients to change banks, clients' development of business acumen and the impact of the Internet.

89% of responding Business Advisers assist an average of approximately 13 clients in a month, the remaining 11% assist over 30 clients per month. At least half of all clients seen by 23% of respondents were first time clients, while 16% of respondents dealt with no first time clients.

Business Advisers are reached by clients through a variety of means. Amongst the respondents, 29% found the most common method of referral was through a Business Link enquiry officer, while 26% were reached through recommendation by another client. One potential source of competition might have been from accountancy practices, who offer business advice and 24% of respondents feel that this is indeed a significant threat, although 45% see it as only a possible threat.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly half of respondents (46%) think that business know-how is the single most important attribute of the Business Adviser, followed by interpersonal skills (24%) and counselling skills (23%).

Few clients are known to have made plans yet to deal with the impact of the final stage of the Disability Discrimination Act.1995, which will be implemented in October 2004. Advisers held differing views on the best way to encourage compliance.

45% of the responding Business Advisers would give highest priority to encouraging and developing start-up companies through Government funding directed towards encouraging enterprise. The choice was made from a number of policy alternatives which have been adopted from time to time. Second choice was funding to encourage an enterprise culture through the education system (25%).

Recently Government has sought ways to increase competition for business between banks by making it easier for smaller businesses to change their bank. The survey results showed 14% of Advisers responding feel highly that clients face significant barriers to changing banks, with a further 31% agreeing but to a more moderate extent. Only 6% did not feel that clients face significant barriers to changing banks. the results agreed very closely with those obtained from a corresponding question directly to smaller business panellists in the UK Business Barometer last June:

In practice, although 30% of respondents feel that it has become easier or much easier for clients to change banks over the last twelve months, 63% feel there has been no change.

Client skills development is one of the areas of concern for many Business Advisers. 45% of respondents report that learning 'on the job' is the most common way that clients learn and develop their business acumen, while 31% say that it is done through advisory sessions.

Last February the UK Business Barometer asked smaller business what the impact on their businesses would be if the Internet collapsed permanently tomorrow. We asked a similar question this month in the UKBAB, and it appears that for the Business Advisers responding, the Internet is a more necessary feature. 51% of businesses said it would have little or no impact on their businesses whereas 33% of business advisors said the same. On the other hand 32% of Business Advisors would rate the effect as, or nearly as, catastrophic - 26% of smaller business agreed.

Views expressed are those of individual panellists and may not represent those of the IBA or the University of Nottingham.