This paper reports new survey results on the extent, sourcing and impact of external business advice to SMEs in Britain. The survey, covering 2547 respondents, is the largest and most definitive assessment to date. Its results demonstrate the very wide extent of external advice: used by 95% of...

This paper examines the relations between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and business associations. It identifies sectoral, local and national dimensions and reports survey results in Britain that evidence the range of services supplied and demanded. The paper reviews the theoretical...

Interlocking between the earliest 20 chambers of commerce in the British Isles and the partners of local provincial banks relied on similar needs for networks and trust. Two-thirds of banks and 40% of bank partners were members of their local chambers. Bank partners formed 8% of chamber...

This paper assesses the differentiation between business centres in Britain using data on business location from the Census of Employment analysed at postcode district level. The paper uses a combination of micro-analytical, central place theory and interregional trade theory to argue that...

This paper provides an analysis of the influence of location on the extent of use and impact of external advice and collaboration on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Britain. The analysis indicates that for private-sector advisers (accountants, consultants, etc.) and collaboration...

The use of legal contract and personal trust are compared in this paper for the relationships between clients and their different advisers who supply business advice. Personal trust between client and adviser is found to operate as an exclusive means to manage relational exchange only for social...

This paper outlines the economic impacts of the VAT recently introduced on new commercial construction projects. It concludes that significant adverse effects will arise in the financial services sector which is exempt from VAT. Because of the locational demands of this sector there is likely to...

This paper demonstrates the existence of both localised and national spatial markets for consultancy in Britain. A large survey sample of 1,208 client-advisor links whose locations are geo-coded is investigated using GIS software. It is expected from previous literature that search and selection...