The City of London Corporation is dedicated to maintaining and
enhancing the status of the City as the world’s leading
international financial and business centre. The presence of small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the neighbouring areas is
integral to this purpose as they provide essential support services
(such as hospitality, cleaning, management consultancy and
advertising) to City firms and contribute to the area’s economic
prosperity through the creation of large numbers of jobs.
However, London currently faces significant challenges in
maintaining the productivity and sustainability of SMEs.
City fringe boroughs have high SME start-up rates, but
they also suffer from some of the highest failure
rates. Whilst 11,890 new SMEs were set up in the City fringes
in 2006, in the same year 9,390 SMEs in the City fringes also
failed (
see source).
In order to address these challenges and support a thriving SME
community, the City of London Corporation has a substantial
business support programme to facilitate the development and growth
of small businesses in the City fringe through the provision of
premises, finance and guidance.
To find out more about how the City of London supports small
business and enterprise in the City fringe, follow the links
below.
To find out about relocating your business to the Square Mile
see our
locating in the City pages.
Coping with the economic downturn
See our coping with the economic downturn pages for sources of
advice and
support available to SMEs on a range of issues
affecting your business.
Gateway to London |
oneLondon | SME finance |
SME workspace | Local
procurement
For more information, please email
partnerships@cityoflondon.gov.uk.
Gateway to London
The City of London is a member of Gateway to London, a
public/private sector partnership which aims to encourage
investment and business expansion projects in the Thames Gateway
Region. As well as promoting the benefits of the region to
investors, Gateway to London also provides businesses with a range
of advice and guidance about relocation to the area.
For more information, please visit the
Gateway to London
website
GLE oneLondon
GLE oneLondon is the business support arm of
Greater London
Enterprise, specialising in support for small and early-stage
businesses and entrepreneurs in under-served communities. Every
year GLE oneLondon supports 5,000 new and established businesses
with finance, training, advice and mentoring.
As a member of GLE oneLondon, the City of London Corporation
makes an annual contribution of £25,000 towards the agency’s
business support activities. In 2007/8 the City of London’s
contribution funded the delivery of the Community Outreach Project
in Stockwell, North Lambeth.
This project is targeting areas of social housing in Stockwell
and helping residents to explore self-employment as a route out of
unemployment or engagement in the informal economy. By April 2008,
the project supported 60 people to explore business ideas in
awareness raising workshops and helped 15 residents to prepare
business plans to go forward for finance. The project plans to
include workshops and one-to-one business advice in Portuguese, to
ensure that the programme is accessible to Stockwell’s large
Portuguese community.
For more information about oneLondon, please visit the
oneLondon
website.
For more information about the Lambeth Community Support Project
please email Liam Hickey
Senior Business Adviser, oneLondon South Central.
SME finance
Together with workspace, the availability of finance is
essential to the growth of SMEs. Unfortunately many struggle to
access external finance from mainstream banks, particularly if they
lack an established track record or assets against which to secure
a loan. As a result, publicly backed finance plays a critical role
in promoting the development of SMEs particularly within deprived
communities where banks may be more reluctant to lend. Accordingly,
since 1999, the City of London Corporation has invested £8.7million
in the following SME loan funds:
- Barings English Growth Fund managed
by Nova
and providing capital for small businesses with growth
potential.
- London Regional Venture Capital Fund a £50
million venture capital fund for Greater London, supported by the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS). The
Fund provides equity finance to high growth, innovative businesses
requiring sums below £500,000. Co-investors include DBIS, the
European Investment Fund, Barclays Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and
a number of local authority pension funds.
-
The Chandos Fund, dealing with
expansion capital for high growth businesses, management
buy-outs and buy-ins, pre IPO funding, partial sales, release of
equity.
The City of London SME Workspace
Initiative
Affordable workspace is a significant problem for small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the
City fringes. The City of London Corporation already makes
available certain properties for let to SMEs. However, we have also
launched a major initiative to increase the amount of space for
SMEs available in the City fringes and beyond. This scheme involves
identifying opportunities for investment in premises and sites,
usually in conjunction with other boroughs, space providers or
agencies such as the London Development Agency, Greater London
Enterprise and Workspace. The SME Workspace Initiative is currently
operating in Southwark, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and
Newham.
To date the initiative has completed two developments. The large
building at 1 Alie Street, a former Bank of America property in
Tower Hamlets, was refurbished into high spec office space targeted
at SMEs in the financial services and 'City support' sectors.
Canalside Works, an SME Workspace joint venture with the Shoreditch
Trust on Orsman Rd overlooking Regent’s Canal in Hackney, was
completed in October 2007. Canalside Works provides energy
efficient, eco-friendly office space in the vibrant east end,
perfect for creative sector businesses. SME Workspace’s next
development is 13/17 Worship Street in Islington, to be converted
into trendy, ‘industrial feel’ office space. The SME
Workspace initiative has also made an equity investment in 16
Hoxton Square, a hospitality training centre containing a number of
suites suitable for let by SMEs with units ranging from 200-5,000
sq ft.
For more information about the City of London SME Workspace
Initiative please email the Strategic Property Director at
partnerships@cityoflondon.gov.uk.
The City of London Local
Procurement Project
The City of London is aware that local procurement, both by the
City of London Corporation and other organisations within the
Square Mile, can make a big difference to the local economies of
neighbouring boroughs. Local procurement stimulates business growth
in the
City fringes and this in turn leads to an increase in the
number of local job opportunities. The City of London Local
Procurement Project aims to increase competitive procurement from
SMEs in the City fringe. The project has three phases:
- Influencing the City of London’s procurement officers - working
with procurement officers across the City of London Corporation to
include local SMEs in all quoting / tendering opportunities.
- Influencing the City of London’s Supply Chain - requiring trade
contracts and planning agreements with first tier suppliers to make
sub-contracting opportunities available to local SMEs.
- Influencing the City - encouraging City firms to adopt local
procurement as part of their social responsibility and business
competitiveness agendas.
Project activities to date include identifying current levels of
local procurement within the City of London Corporation,
implementing changes to internal policy and procedural documents to
ensure that local SMEs are invited to tender on all quotes and
tenders and setting up a database of local suppliers.
For more information, please see the
Local Procurement Project web pages.