Local support, held to a national standard

Small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The micro, small and medium-sized enterprise sector accounts for roughly half of the country's GDP, around three-quarters of its innovation and about a third of all employment. The quality of advice these businesses can reach still varies by place: real pockets of excellence, but not yet applied to a consistent standard a commissioner can rely on at the point support is delivered. Raising the quality and consistency of business advice is one of the highest-leverage things that can be done for the small-business economy, and that is the ground the Standard is built to hold.

The NBSA brings the country's local and national stakeholders into one shared approach, not because it implies government status. Its reach is earned through voluntary adoption, authority by authority and centre by centre, rather than waiting on central endorsement. That bottom-up design is deliberate: it means the Standard is owned by the sector that delivers it, and it stays grounded in local need. The door remains open to government, steering groups and further partner bodies as the Alliance grows.

The Alliance is led by SFEDI and the National Enterprise Network, who govern it jointly, with pilot delivery being through Academy of Leadership and Management.

SFEDI, the UK's government-recognised standards body for enterprise support, sets and regulates the Business Support Standard and provides the quality-assurance, qualifications and accreditation backbone. The National Enterprise Network, the representative network of enterprise support organisations across England, drives engagement and keeps the model grounded in local delivery. ALM delivers the pilot qualification route. A joint governance board sets strategic direction and holds the Standard to account.