Pictured: Ranjit Thaliwal (Thaliwal Bridge Solicitors), Martin Cullen (Rockstar Promotions), Rajesh Modha (Finance Lab), Sameer Karim (Douglas Wemyss Solicitors), Anil Tailor (Celerica Accountants), Mehmooda Duke (Moosa Duke Solicitors), Situl Raithatha (Springfields Business Recovery)

As part of the Governments re-organisation of business support there have been major cut backs to the face to face service of Business Link throughout the country. As part of the national shut-down, all nine of the regional offices of Business Link ended on Friday 25th November 2011 to what many believe as a victim to the Government's austerity measures. In replacement the face to face service has been reduced to an online and telephone only service as part of the cut backs. 

As volunteers are to replace the paid advisers many doubt whether the website and helpline alone will be sufficient to cater for the gap left by the face-to-face service and predict that the services of the advisers will be sorely missed and that this could greatly impact the recovery of our economy, especially the local community. 

Hence 7 leading entrepreneurs and successful business owners from Leicestershire have launched The Business Advice Shop Ltd to fill the void left by the withdrawal of Business Link's face-to-face business advisory service to small and medium sized enterprises especially within the Leicestershire area.  The company's 7 Directors have been carefully selected for their entrepreneurial track record and business knowledge which will enable them to support those accessing their service and expertise. They believe that nothing can compare to advice and support from successful business leaders and entrepreneurs who have experience in establishing successful businesses. The support that is going to be made available will be invaluable as the work of the Business Advice Shop will provide SME's with business advice, support, business planning, financial and tax planning, legal advice and marketing services from first hand experts.

Their main aim and focus is to help the country with its economical revival which rests with the progress and growth of small businesses and start up businesses. Their support and advice will provide opportunities and bridge the gaps for accessing help not just self help but focused face to face help, advice and assistance for any business. It is an enterprise initiative where the leading businesses of Leicestershire have come together to help support the business community who will feel stranded following them losing their business link advisor. 

The Business Advice Shop aims to provide affordable help and support to local businesses through their unique structure of entrepreneurial and business owner Directors and with the added benefit of Associate Advisors. All of the Associate Advisors are highly experienced and suitably qualified in working in business support to engage with SME's. They will provide free initial diagnostic to a business, leading to a tailored action plan. The business can then access further specialist support to implement the plan through their Associate Advisor and the Directors of The Business Advice Shop with a number of former Business Link advisers having already joined the team.

What makes this model unique is the access to the 7 Directors, all of whom are giving their time free of charge to help up and coming entrepreneurs and new business start ups. The unique benefit being that the directors can answer specialist questions directly and can act as mentors to the small business providing real advice from their own experiences and successful business models.  The 7 directors comprise of lawyers, accountants, youth entrepreneurs, financial advisors, marketing and branding specialists and business restructuring and recovery specialists - all of which have developed successful businesses and have experience of the peaks and troughs of business especially in this recessionary climate.

They are:

Sameer Karim (CEO of Douglas Wemyss Solicitors), Ranjit Thaliwal (Owner, Thaliwal Bridge Solicitors), Martin Cullen (MD Rockstar Promotions), Anil Tailor (Owner, Celerica Accountants), Rajesh Modha (Owner, Finance Lab), Ms. Mehmooda Duke (Owner, Moosa Duke Solicitors), Situl Raithatha (Owner, Springfields Business Recovery).

Founding Director and local solicitor, Sameer Karim of Douglas Wemyss Solicitors (Law Firm of the Year 2011) comments on the benefits of this new service: "Through the Business Advice Shop we will provide the Leicestershire business community with access to one to one business support, mentoring and coaching, attendance to workshops and help with funding as we want to make possible for up and coming business to have access to our full range of supporting services - we want to encourage interaction between businesses in their early stages and those established to provide an interactive forum for businesses in Leicestershire to support each other."

Businesses working with The Business Advice Shop will receive ongoing e-newsletters and supporting material to keep them up to date with any changes and opportunities that arise within the business world. There will also be regular events in the form of seminars and workshops covering key topics of importance and allowing for networking opportunities with other business owners to build upon business contacts and cross referral of work. The seminars, workshops and mentoring will all be held at the chic City Rooms in the heart of the City which will be the Business Advice Shops centre point for meetings.

The Business Advice Shop's website was launched on the evening of Friday the 25th November to coincide with the closure of Business Links face to face service. The website contains profiles and bios of all the directors and advisors that are on board and will help businesses understand what support is available and how to access it.