The Institute of Directors has released the results of a survey of 504 members by NOP on their views of the Business Link network, which was relaunched in April 2001.

The survey indicated that of those IoD members who had contacted a Business Link, 41 per cent considered that the quality of advice that they received was good, 35 per cent thought it was adequate and 24 per cent described it as poor.

One in four per cent of IoD members out of the sample of 504 members did not believe that there was a need for Business Links at all.

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

Richard Wilson, business policy executive at the IoD, told ePolitix.com: "One of the best actions that the Department for Trade and Industry can take to help British firms is to provide advice and to disseminate information to businesses about new techniques, best practice and product information. Small firms that access and use business support services are more likely to be profitable and to survive than those enterprises that do not.

"The Business Link network is the DTI's principal institution for providing information and advice to small and medium-sized enterprises. Encouragingly, our survey showed that 76 per cent of the IoD members who contacted a Business Link since the network was revamped in April 2001 considered that the quality of advice that they received was either good or adequate.

"However, almost a quarter of the directors who contacted a Business Link since April last year considered that the quality of advice that they received was poor. Clearly, some of the 45 Business Links still need to improve the quality of service that they offer."

Forum Response: Federation of Small Businesses

A spokesman for the FSB told ePolitix.com: "A comparison between the IoD's survey and the FSB's Lifting the Barriers Survey of 18,000 small businesses suggests that the larger the business, the more likely it is to have used the services of a local Business Link.

"21 per cent of IoD members have used their services whereas our survey revealed that only 11 per cent of small firms had turned to their local Business Link over the last year.

"Although confidence in Business Links is generally low, there has been an improvement over the last two years. Our members are also more dissatisfied with the grants and loans on offer rather than the quality of the business advisors themselves."