Dear Prime Minister,
RE: Critical and Time-Sensitive: Safeguarding the Future of the UK’s Enterprise and Business Support Infrastructure
As Chairman of the National Enterprise Network (NEN), I am writing on behalf of our members who, for over 40 years, have delivered vital enterprise and business support across every region of the United Kingdom.
Collectively, our not-for-profit members — all of whom are Department for Business and Trade (DBT) approved — have helped more than 856,000 small and micro businesses to start and grow, supported over 750,000 individuals into self-employment, and leveraged millions in public and private investment into local economies. These organisations are the foundation of community-led enterprise, self-employment, and inclusive economic growth — yet today, they stand at critical risk of collapse.
A Perfect Storm: Withdrawal, Uncertainty, and Dilution of Funds
The withdrawal from European structural funding, the impending closure of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in March 2026, and ongoing uncertainty surrounding devolution and local government reform have created an unstable and fragmented business support landscape.
The UKSPF, intended to replace EU funding and strengthen local enterprise, has in many areas been diluted or misdirected. Funds have often been absorbed into infrastructure projects or administrative costs rather than directed to front-line enterprise and self-employment delivery.
The result is a postcode lottery for businesses, where access to advice and support depends entirely on location. In some areas, small business owners can still access quality one-to-one enterprise guidance, while in others, there is no local provision at all. This inequality undermines both fairness and national productivity.
It is crucial to emphasise that this issue is not about high-tech or high-growth sectors, but about the foundational economy — the 5.5 million small and micro businesses that make up 99.9% of all UK firms, employ 27 million people, and contribute £2.4 trillion annually to the national economy.
NEN’s national data shows:
– 48% of enterprise agencies face financial insecurity within the next 12 months;
– A further 27% anticipate closure or significant staff reductions by the end of 2025;
– Over 60% are already delivering support without full cost recovery, subsidising activity from their own reserves.
This position is unsustainable and represents a serious risk to the stability of local business ecosystems across the UK.
The Business Growth Service: Fragmented and Failing to Reach the Frontline
While the relaunch of the Business Growth Service is welcome in principle, its current structure does not effectively reach the majority of small and micro businesses. The Service primarily signposts users to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) or local Chambers of Commerce.
Both organisations deliver valuable services to their members, but they represent only a fraction of the UK’s small business community. The vast majority of microbusinesses and self-employed individuals are not members and therefore receive no personalised support.
This over-reliance on signposting and online information creates a fragmented and exclusionary system. Businesses are directed through digital portals rather than connected to trusted, DBT-approved local advisers who can provide contextual, practical guidance. As a result, the current model fails to meet the real needs of those driving the local economy.
VOA Decisions: A Direct Threat to Enterprise Centres and Micro Business Survival
The recent Valuation Office Agency (VOA) decision to classify managed workspaces as single-site business-rate entities — backdated to 2023 — is already having a profound and damaging effect.
Many of our members are now facing substantial retrospective rate demands, in some cases six-figure sums. For not-for-profit enterprise centres that have long provided affordable workspace and start-up hubs, these costs are crippling.
If these organisations cannot absorb the backdated liabilities, many will be forced to close. Those attempting to remain operational will have no choice but to pass on increased costs to their small business tenants, undermining affordability.
The consequences are twofold:
1. Surpluses that would otherwise be reinvested into enterprise support, mentoring, and local growth programmes will disappear.
2. Microbusinesses will be deterred from remaining in managed workspace, threatening start-up ecosystems and hollowing out local enterprise clusters.
The VOA’s approach risks dismantling the very “easy-in, easy-out” flexibility that underpins microbusiness incubation and affordable workspace across the UK.
Compounded by Local Commissioning Delays and Rising Costs
This situation is further exacerbated by local authorities delaying the commissioning of business support contracts until after Mayoral elections, leaving experienced providers in financial limbo.
Meanwhile, small businesses themselves face an unsustainable rise in costs:
– The National Minimum Wage will rise by 9.8% in April 2025;
– Employer National Insurance contributions remain high;
– Business rates have increased by an average of 6.7% under the 2025 VOA revaluation.
Many owner-managers are now effectively earning below the minimum wage when their hours are considered. These are the same entrepreneurs being asked to create employment under the Government’s “Get Britain Working” campaign. Without adequate local support, these ambitions will not be achievable.
This strain is mirrored within prisons and probation services, where NEN members continue to deliver enterprise and self-employment programmes. Cuts to skills funding and growing expectations of probono delivery threaten to erode progress in rehabilitation and reoffending reduction.
A System at Breaking Point
For decades, the UK’s enterprise agencies have represented a trusted, high-value national network. They have matched public funding with their own income, reinvested surpluses locally, and increased the value of ERDF and UKSPF investments by up to 45%.
These agencies are DBT-approved partners, operating with accountability, governance, and measurable social impact. Yet, through policy misalignment, funding inconsistency, and administrative decisions such as the VOA reclassification, this proven model is being eroded at a time when small business resilience is most needed.
Across the UK, the message is clear: ‘no one is supporting the supporters’.
An Urgent Call for Government Action
Prime Minister, this issue is both critical and time-sensitive. Without intervention before March 2026, the United Kingdom risks losing an entire tier of its local enterprise infrastructure — the organisations that quietly sustain entrepreneurship, innovation, and community economic growth.
These agencies are deeply embedded within their communities, forming an essential part of the local support ecosystem. They receive referrals from colleges and universities, Citizens Advice, banks, probation services, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Jobcentre Plus, local authorities, and through partnerships with HM Prisons and the Ministry of Justice.
This interconnected network ensures that individuals — whether they are unemployed, newly self-employed, recently released from prison, or seeking to grow a business — are directed toward practical, local, and trusted enterprise support. The loss of these agencies would therefore not only dismantle business support but also break vital community pathways that link economic opportunity with education, rehabilitation, and social inclusion.
We therefore urge your Government to:
1. Recognise the not-for-profit enterprise network, approved by DBT, as an integral part of the UK’s business and skills infrastructure.
2. Establish a bridging and transition plan beyond March 2026, ensuring continuity of enterprise support post-UKSPF.
3. Review and ring-fence the allocation of UKSPF funds, ensuring they reach local enterprise delivery and are not diluted within administrative or infrastructure budgets.
4. Immediately review VOA policy and backdated liabilities, halting retrospective charges for managed workspace providers and safeguarding affordable microbusiness space.
5. Develop a consistent, national framework for business support to end the postcode lottery, ensuring equitable access to human-led, localised enterprise advice across all regions.
Included is a White Paper, developed in consultation with our members nationwide, outlining data, case studies, and evidence-based policy recommendations. Officials within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) acknowledge our concerns but indicate that intervention lies beyond their remit. We respectfully request that your office lead a cross-departmental review and coordinated response.
Prime Minister, without decisive action, the UK will lose not just advisers and agencies — but the community infrastructure that enables economic inclusion, enterprise, and local prosperity.
I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or your senior officials to discuss this matter further and to work collaboratively on ensuring that enterprise support remains accessible to every small business, regardless of postcode.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Till
Chairman, National Enterprise Network
On behalf of NEN Members across the United Kingdom & the Community it serves.