A new business support programme has been launched by Warwick University’s Science Park to help new companies through their difficult first years.
It is estimated that 50 per cent of new businesses fail in this time, and the 12 month Business Life programme, run in conjunction with Warwick Business School, aims to put a stop to that.
The programme, delivered online by business professionals and the Business Life website, includes templates for business documents with flexible online learning and mentoring from leading professional advisers.
A pilot scheme run in Oxfordshire received a 95 per cent approval rating, with many businesses saying it helped them through the first twelve months, while 86 per cent of the companies on the programme survived the first year.
David Rowe, chief executive of the Science Park, said, “It’s easy to talk about the recession and how useful this programme will be during the current economic climate. But it’s a fact that many new businesses fail in the first few years even during the boom times. That needn’t be the case.”
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