Government today accepted a package of recommendations to help support ethnic business in the UK. Recent statistics show that one in ten businesses are owned by ethnic minorities with 15,000 such businesses in the Greater London area alone.

The Ethnic Minority Business Forum today welcomed Patricia Hewitt's supportive comments to drive forward major changes that will help ethnic minority businesses throughout the country.

The forum, which is a non-departmental public body comprising 20 members from a broad spread of the ethnic minority community, including notable Asians like G K Noon and Lord Amir Bhatia OBE, advises DTI Ministers and David Irwin, CEO of the Small Business Services (SBS) on the impact of proposed policies on ethnic minority-run businesses.

Yvonne Thompson, Chair of the Forum, said that ethnic minority businesses played a crucial role in local communities. She pointed out that ethnic minorities make up 5% of the population, but they are responsible for 9% of all business start-ups. With minority businesses making up nearly 20% of London's small business community alone, this sector is of obvious importance to the British economy. Ironically, ethnic minority-run businesses are less likely to seek advice from business support organisations even though they are more likely to set-up business and employ others.

The six new measures that have been accepted by the Government include:

• improving the way Government monitors, disseminates and analyses information on ethnic minority businesses;
• making sure the Government-funded business support services are equally accessible to all by ensuring the Business Link customer base is in proportion to the make-up of the local community;
• improving access to business finance for ethnic minority businesses;
• improving the levels of ICT take up among ethnic minority businesses;
• securing an increase in the number of ethnic minority businesses tendering for Government contracts; and
• maximising the potential offered by ethnic minority businesses in regenerating urban areas.

Ms Thompson added, "The people who run these businesses are tremendous entrepreneurs who need to be encouraged and helped."

Click here to visit the Ethnic Minority Forum website.
Click here to visit the DTI website.

Reference:

• One in ten businesses are owned by ethnic minorities (Breakout 1997).
• There are 15,000 ethnic minority businesses in Greater London alone (BEMF Community Enterprise 1998).
• According to the 1991 Census, people from ethnic minority groups were 6.3%more likely to be in business on their own account and employing others than their counterparts.
• In 1997 people from ethnic minority backgrounds represented 5% of the UK population, but entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds were responsible for 9% of all new business start-ups (Bank of England report "Finance for Small Firms", Jan 2000).
• Ethnic minority small businesses are less likely to seek advice from business support organisation. For example, 86% of Asian owned businesses never use the services of business support organisations (Barclays Review "Cultural Change and the Small Firm" February 1997).