London Development Agency
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LDA Commits To New Seminars To Help London’s SMEs

The London Development Agency (LDA) has today announced that a new series of free seminars will give small and medium sized businesses in the capital access to advice that will help them grow out of recession. The announcement was made at an event held by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to showcase the economic benefits created by regional development agencies.

The LDA’s new seminars are being held in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB. Specialists in finance and business planning will offer sought-after advice that business owners and managers can use to improve their resilience or identify opportunities for expansion.

Tessa Jowell, Minister for London, said:

“This is a good example of how Regional Development Agencies are supporting businesses in their areas. The LDA will be helping hundreds more of London’s businesses develop the knowledge they need to take advantage of the capital’s economic recovery. These seminars will help equip them with some of the insights and intelligence they need to find new opportunities and expand.”

The new series builds on the success of last year’s programme of 14 smaller workshops which helped more than 1000 SMEs in the capital. The events were held with the support of experts from KPMG, PWC, Ernst and Young and Deloitte and were introduced as part of the Mayor of London’s Economic Recovery Action Plan.

Feedback from these events has helped shape the current series of seminars. There will be more networking opportunities because of the greater number of participants and the discussion will focus on the areas of key importance to SMEs:

- Marketing and business development
- Financial planning
- Structuring businesses
- Managing change
- Tax planning

London Development Agency Group Director Learning and Skills Brendan Loughran said:

“London’s businesses need to remain resilient and create opportunities for growth, even in the challenging economic climate. The LDA’s seminars are helping owners and managers to identify current threats to their success and implement strategies and plans that will set them apart from the competition. This new series of seminars will provide valuable support to this important sector of the capital’s economy.”

The first seminar will be held in May and will be open to more than 200 people. Registration for the event will start in the next few weeks.

RBS / NatWest’s Managing Director of Business and Commercial Banking in London Ian Kay said:

“In these economic times it is important that SMEs have access to the business support and advice they need to prosper, and these seminars have been designed to deliver assistance in the running of their businesses from a number of stakeholders in the London economy, who are working on a daily basis with SMEs so understand the challenges they are currently facing.”

Many London businesses are already benefitting from the advice they have received through the seminars. Yieze Cantle is the director of Aygeas Limited, a company bringing West African specialty food products to the UK market. She was among more than 60 small business owners who attended one of the seminars held in October.

"I have been operating on a really lean budget to ensure that my business survives this recession," she said.

"Personally, I found the seminar to be really useful.

"Having the opportunity to talk with other business owners I was able to understand that we are all facing similar issues, and I now have some new ideas which I am going to explore - particularly around invoicing and tie-in incentive schemes."

The seminars are part of the LDA’s much wider business support programme that helps London’s SMEs capitalise on the opportunities created by operating in a dynamic and world leading city. Further details on the seminars can be found at: www.lda.gov.uk

Notes for editors
• The London Development Agency works across the capital to unlock the potential of London and Londoners and sustain its economic growth by:


- supporting businesses to grow and succeed
- tackling climate change
- promoting London internationally
- catalysing local regeneration and improving the public realm
- helping workless Londoners to get into work and stay in work
- making the most of the business, skills and regeneration opportunities from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games


• More information on the LDA’s business support seminars can be found on the LDA website: www.lda.gov.uk


• Case studies are available at: http://www.lda.gov.uk/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.3129


• The events are being held with the support of RBS and Lloyds TSB.
• More information on today’s event hosted by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills can be found at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/


• Details of the Mayor of London’s Economic Recovery Action Plan can be found at: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/economy/recovery/


• More information on Aygeas Limited can be accessed via the company’s website: http://www.aygeasfoods.com/

For further information please contact:
Brooke Baldwin, Press Officer
Tel: 020 7593 8474BrookeBaldwin@lda.gov.uk 
LDA out of hours: 07977 439371 Public enquiries: 020 7593 9000

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