Helping Small Firms: The Contribution of TECs and LECs

Abstract

DR. SARAH VICKERSTAFF IS SENIOR LECTURER in industrial relations (human resource management) in the Canterbury Business School; Dr. Kim Parker is lecturer in operational research in the Maths Institute, both at the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. This paper reports on recent survey research investigating how the new employer-led Training and Enterprise Councils and Local Enterprise Companies, established to spearhead a change in training and enterprise attitudes and activity in Britain, are organising in order to reach and address the particular problems of the small business sector. In the past, small businesses have often believed that government initiatives on training and enterprise fail to address the realities of the small business owners' situation. The paper identifies the problems that TECs/LECs may face in gaining the confidence of small businesses and reveals that many TECs/LECs appear to recognise the need for a specifically targeted approach to SMEs. However, the analysis suggests that TECs/LECs need a range of mechanisms to reach the diverse population that constitutes the small business sector and that connections with industrial organisations may be more significant for reaching small firms than has been assumed.