This way for best advice

Mar 19 2008 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

PROFESSIONAL consultants in Huddersfield have been given a chance to drum up more business.

A new database of suppliers is being set up by Business Link Yorkshire.

It will provide information on business advisers, including management consultants, financial advisers, marketing consultants and designers.

The information will be used to widen the range of consultancy and business-to-business providers available for referrals by Business Link staff, including Business Link personnel based at the Textile Centre of Excellence at Bradley Mills.

The system, which was developed by development agency Yorkshire Forward, will be used by hundreds of Business Link Yorkshire’s advisers to introduce suppliers to new and expanding businesses.

It follows a major revamp of the Business Link service, which will be launched next month.

Malcolm Johnston, director of competitiveness services for Business Link Yorkshire, urged advisers and suppliers of business services to register their details and be considered for thousands of referrals.

Accountants, marketing and PR companies, solicitors, designers, IT suppliers, management consultants and financial advisers are among the most common referrals made by Business Link advisers.

Said Mr Johnston: “One of the fundamental improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the new Business Link Yorkshire service is that where a business needs specialist advice and support, 100% of this support will be delivered by private sector suppliers.

“We will be introducing services to businesses that need assistance to launch or grow, and in order to have the broadest range of suppliers it is crucial that we get Yorkshire’s professionals to register on the database.

“There will be thousands of referrals made by our advisers each year and we want to build the best database of high-quality supplier contacts we can to offer recommendations to clients.”

Private sector companies can register online and the database is expected to expand to several thousand over the coming months.

Mr Johnston added: “We will not be making the decision of who to hire or use. We will simply be offering businesses a choice of approved, high-quality suppliers that are best suited to assist their organisation.

“The businesses will pay for the services they use, although in some cases there may be some support towards these costs.”

Organisations can register via website www.yhsuppliers.co.uk