19 August 2005
Business leaders have dismissed regional development agencies as irrelevant to the success of their companies, saying they do not understand their role or even why they exist.
The Institute of Directors said its members were 'unimpressed' with the nine RDAs, set up by the government six years ago to kick-start economic regeneration in the English regions. The institute says the agencies, which have a combined annual budget of more than £2bn, have little awareness of the real needs of businesses.
The IoD surveyed 500 of its members and found that 82% had had no contact with their local RDA in the previous year, while 30% did not even know its name. Of those who did, just 8% thought their local RDA understood the support their firm needed.
IoD business policy adviser Mike Harris said that, while the RDAs did some good work, they needed to focus their activities much more tightly and concentrate on providing practical initiatives to foster business growth and support entrepreneurs.
'It remains apparent from our survey that the agencies are yet to make much impression on most businesses at grassroots level,' he added.
A spokeswoman for the RDAs conceded that they had a problem with visibility among business people and needed to make greater efforts to raise their profiles.
'RDAs have a leadership and co-ordinating role in their regions and a lot of the business-facing support is delivered through partners. Businesses are not equating the support and services with the RDAs, so we need to be better at making that connection clear,' she added.
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