The purpose of this literature review is to document academic research concerning factors influencing the performances of venture capital funds, as well as the venture capital fundraising decisions. Industry specialisation, large fund sizes, strong deal flow, syndication of investments, and...

The issue of regulation and its adverse impacts upon small businesses has been noted by several organisations (Better Regulation Task Force, 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2001; Small Business Council 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004; Small Business Service, 2004a). The recent ICAEW report on the 2004 Enterprise Survey...

Over recent years, the government has taken steps to improve the supply of finance, particularly equity finance, to small businesses. However, it was also recognised that steps needed to be taken to help more small businesses to become ´investment ready´ if they were to take advantage of this...

The review’s outcomes support the Government’sstrategic policy framework for small businesses by:■ building an enterprise culture and encouraging newentrepreneurs to acquire an existing business,something that carries a lower risk than starting anew one;■ encouraging a more dynamic...

The review shows that there are many different models of support to small business - different countries make different choices. The review developed a scale that outlines 26 different choices for policymakers in their design of programmes for business advice. It is important that these choices...

The government’s main objective in developing better regulation and policy is to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses, particularly those which act as a barrier to start-up and growth, and improve the ability of small businesses to sell to the public sector.The purpose of this...

The Small Business Service commissioned BMRB Social Research to conduct a qualitative study to explore the small business experience of interacting with government services. The research is designed to map the channels of information and support used by small businesses, to explore their...

The Small Business Service (SBS) defines small businesses’ experience of government services as any interaction they may experience with government, including tax and regulatory transactions and guidance, business support, selling to government, and consultations. The government’s main...

This executive summary reports on a study that tracked Euro preparationsby UK SMEs that had trade or ownership links with the EU. This study isunique because unlike other studies which measure Euro preparationsamongst the general UK business population, it tracks ‘euro aware’ UKbusinesses...

Within the sample of the three departments (DTI, OGC and HMT):Small businesses account for 71% of suppliers and 30% of spending. They facegreater obstacles in supplying government than medium and large companies, andhave fewer resources to be able to overcome these obstacles.Women-owned...