Brian Paddick Supports Small Business

To demonstrate its return to responsible business practices, Liberal Democrats will challenge London’s banks and investment houses to create a London Small Business Fund so that no viable enterprise is prevented from expanding through lack of finance. Brian Paddick challenges all London’s big business to offer mentoring support and advice to SMEs and, crucially, to open up their contracting to London’s firms by publicising opportunities through the established "CompeteFor" platform.

London’s entrepreneurs need support and encouragement to grow their businesses and get people into work. The GLA must promote cost effective business support programmes, champion the needs of business, ensure business costs are kept low and promote London’s cultural, sporting and entertainment offer.

Brian Paddick will:

• Involve existing successful entrepreneurs in advising on ways to improve the government’s replacement Business Link advisory service.
• Challenge big companies to promote entrepreneurism, through contracting and mentoring, learning from work done in the inner city areas of the United States to help combat disadvantage and discrimination that led to the riots and disturbances that took place on our streets in August 2011.
• Demand that large companies give priority to local purchasing, to keep buying power in the London economy, using the "CompeteFor" database and procurement portal created for the Olympics.
• Ensure all parts of the GLA family including Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and the Homes and Community Agency in London put work into the database so that small firms can bid for contracts as public sector projects are put out to tender.
• Insist central government extends to London’s businesses all the benefits from the National Insurance holidays and grant funds made available to other regions of the UK.