Whether they are based online, accessible face-to-face, provided by one-to-one consultations, or via helplines, there are many useful free business resources available in the UK. While it can be hard for a busy practice to find the time to navigate them all, everything from expert mentoring and regional funding opportunities to masterclasses in marketing can be found out there.
The government’s Business and Self-Employed Gateway links to country-wide resources
An excellent place to start is the government’s official Business and Self-Employed gateway, linking to invaluable advice from setting up a business to selling or closing it down and everything in-between, whether it is copyright and intellectual property or business taxes. Being official guidance, the information can be relied upon to be up to date.
Behind the Business finance and support link lies the most useful page, Finance and support for your business, which is itself a portal to 151 business support schemes, the vast majority of which are regionally or locally based across England and Wales, but also include UK wide schemes.
These are aimed at both start-ups and established businesses, though ‘start-up’ support schemes commonly allow for up to 36 months of trading. The employee number search filter that can be applied has a maximum of 250 – the defining limit for an SME business – so most resources are available to all but the largest practices. Location and sector filters can also be set.
Many metropolitan areas offer financial advice and support
Many of the metropolitan cities, particularly those located in the Northern Powerhouse, have structured financial support packages available. The Access to Finance (A2F) service covering Greater Manchester and Lancashire, for instance, offers bespoke assistance including:
- an assessment of your financial position and funding requirements
- development of your business plan with financial and other supporting information
- identification of the finance products that are appropriate for your business, including both debt and equity products
- coaching and mentoring to develop an investment proposition and pitch presentation
- introductions to suitable finance providers including NW business angels
- introductions to other business support and financial service providers
- support at meetings with lenders and investors
In Leeds, the AD:VENTURE Growth Programme offers businesses tailored support, including access to a dedicated business advisor and Growth Grants of up to £25k. Start-ups can access high quality interactive workshops at local universities and may even qualify for incubator office space.
Government-backed loans
One of the advantages of government-backed Start-Up Loans, which are typically the source of these regional loan offers, is that unlike business loans, they are offered as unsecured personal loans. They typically come with free support and guidance to help write a business plan and up to 12 months of free business mentoring.
Other search finds include the Business Enterprise fund for North East England (government-backed loans up to £250k, unsecured available to help manage cash flow).
Search by location to find free resources near you
Searching by location reveals an abundance of free-to-access workshops, toolkits, funding leads, and other resources. Some will be highly relevant to practices, such as winning public sector contracts. All areas of the country appear to be covered and some cover unexpectedly small areas that local architects should make sure they know about.
Through the Business & IP Centre in Devon, businesses can access free business support workshops on topics such as:
- branding and digital marketing
- tax and accounting
- business plans and funding
- intellectual property and copyright
- confidence and mindset
And with a nod to post-lockdown working arrangements, the centre is about to launch a free 10 week course for people wanting to launch a new business from their bedroom. Bedroom to Business starts on 8 September 2022.
Explore the national network of business libraries
Devon’s Business & IP Centre is one of the National Network Centres around the UK that follows a programme and ethos developed by the Business & Intellectual Property Centre at the British Library. This is a major gateway to free resources in its own right, many based around local libraries.
The British Library offers a wide range of webinars and offers online one-to-ones on intellectual property and business information. It also makes databases, market research, and other valuable business reports freely available.
Its flagship offering for creative business is the Get Ready for Business Growth programme supported by Arts Council England. Every three months, 25 high growth creative businesses are given bespoke specialist advice and support over a 10 week period.
To date, it has supported more than 650 businesses with turnovers from £100k to £30m and it’s entirely free. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 9 September 2022.
The City Business Library contains the largest collection of business databases
In response to CCOVID-19 lockdowns, the City Business Library, which boasts the most comprehensive collection of business databases and publications in the UK, launched an online Small Business Research + Enterprise Centre.
Free membership gives access to all business data inside the library in London’s Guildhall plus remote access to a limited number of its valuable databases. Members choosing to pay a subscription of £189 for 12 months can access nine databases, which include data and market research reports usually only available to major organisations with large budgets.
This type of data cannot be found for free by trawling the internet and may be a good investment for practices carrying out UK and international market research for business development.
RIBA business resources for members
The RIBA offers its own business support resources. All members can access the RIBA Business page, where articles on business subjects such as resource costing, cash flow forecasting, or claiming R&D tax credits are constantly added.
RIBA Chartered Practices can use the RIBA Business Helpline and access our RIBA Chartered Practice digital business support page which contains a wealth of resources.
This autumn (30 August to 7 November 2022), RIBA Academy is launching a Practice Management Series of webinars covering business strategy, marketing, financial management, client relationship management, appointments, fees, and HR.
Text by Neal Morris. This is a Professional Feature edited by the RIBA Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas.
RIBA Core Curriculum topic: Business, clients and services.
As part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme, professional features count as microlearning. See further information on the updated RIBA CPD core curriculum and on fulfilling your CPD requirements as a RIBA Chartered Member
