ABSTRACT
This chapter explores an increasing emphasis on improving management skills, in particular by encouraging engagement with consultants and forms of training, during the 1980s and 1990s. We discuss the creation and development of Training and Enterprise Councils that saw training policy largely taken away from national government to be led by locally-oriented, private sector bodies with a substantial responsibility for enterprise policy development and delivery. However, this discussion demonstrates that private sector-led enterprise policies often fail to involve small firms themselves and that the interests of small businesses can take less of a priority compared to the interests of larger businesses. Business Link is then discussed as representative of the ‘business improvement’ agenda and a substantial development in the provision of business support services and the promotion of consultancy. This new enterprise policy initiative went far beyond previous schemes that provided support to businesses applying for financial assistance or signposted to existing services. This discussion also links to quality management standards and the Investors in People accreditation.
