Chamber launches business support service
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce is aiming to fill the gap left by the closures of Business Link and Emda by launching a new service.
The chamber said its Business Helping Business venture was aimed at helping firms expand, create jobs, exploit new markets and win more customers.
The coalition government decided to axe the UK's regional development agencies and cut its business support budget after the general election last year.
The East Midlands Development Agency (Emda) is in the process of being shut down and local Business Link services will be scaled back.
Under the chamber's scheme, businesses will be given access to seminars, follow-on workshops and training.
George Cowcher, chief executive of the chamber, said: "The focus on localism makes it vital that the business community breaks the current culture of dependency on central government and takes responsibility for resolving its own issues.
"The current climate means that businesses will no longer be able to access free business support services, which is why the chamber is launching Business Helping Business, a cost-effective solution which goes back to the very core of what the chamber movement was originally set up to do – to enable businesses to help one another to further their interests."
