 Three Dorset Councils have been rewarded for their support of small businesses at the Local Authority Small Businesses Friendly Awards. The awards have been set up by the Wessex Region of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) to officially recognise the efforts being made by local councils to support businesses in their areas. Six Dorset councils submitted nominations and the awards were presented at a special lunch held at the Carlton Hotel, Bournemouth. The three awards winners were: Best ‘Small Business Friendly’ Procurement Policy - Dorset County Council. For work by its new procurement unit to make Pre-Qualification Questionnaires accessible to small businesses and developing a relationship with the FSB and others to help achieve this. Best ‘Small Business Friendly’ Programme or Campaign – East Dorset District Council. For the Dormen campaign which supports new small businesses by mentoring. Best All Round Small Business Friendliness – North Dorset District Council. For a whole raft of initiatives and in particular for the efforts of the taxation department which phoned every small business entitled to Small Business Rate Relief to explain entitlement and support a claim. The awards were presented by Regional Chairman, Ken Moon, and Tim Colman, Regional Vice-Chairman. Welcoming the representatives to the ceremony Mr Moon explained how the FSB is the largest business organisation in Europe. “Nationwide we have over 215,000 members. This is larger than all the Chambers, the Institute of Directors and the CBI put together. In Dorset the FSB has 4,000 members. The FSB, through our regional and branch officers, lobbies for the rights of small businesses, and on occasion give local authorities a hard time regarding some of their policies and activities. But we are also aware that there are many examples of good practice – which generally go unseen and unheard. For this reason the Wessex Region decided to host these awards, with separate ceremonies for councils in Hampshire with the IOW and Dorset.” Introducing the Awards, Tim Colman said: “The awards are an opportunity for us to give credit where it is due and acknowledge where councils have gone that extra distance for small businesses. It has been very difficult to decide the winners and we hope that those who were unsuccessful this time will not be disheartened.” He continued: “Whilst the FSB recognises that local authorities support awards that are given to businesses, we believe that this is the first time that Councils themselves have been recognised for the support that they give small businesses in their own territory. All the nominations received were excellent examples of how local councils can offer support to small businesses and help to grow their local economies. In fact some councils were hiding their light under a bushel. A number of entries did not highlight enough some of the great things we at the FSB know they are doing.” Collecting the award for Dorset County Council, Councillor Angus Campbell, Council Leader, said: “This is a great privilege. When I first became a councillor it was impressed upon me how important small businesses are. The FSB exists to bring to our attention what is wrong and we recognised procurement was an issue. We think the FSB is doing a terrific job; all councils are getting the message.” For East Dorset District Council, Deputy Leader, Councillor Alex Clarke, said: “The key to the success of the [Dormen] project is partnership working with all local authorities, locally focussed, and volunteers who give their time. It’s a recipe for success.” Responding to the Award for North Dorset District Council, Hilary Richie said: “In a very rural area we have large numbers of small businesses and they are very important part of the economy. The FSB has given us some great ideas of what we can do to support them. Our work is not just in economic regeneration but cuts across all the council’s departments.” |
