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Comparative European practices in enterprise support: UK, Germany and France

This paper develops issues in enterprise support and research with support agencies discussed in a previous paper (Deakins, 1993). We compare the system of enterprise support in the UK with the role of Chambers of Commerce and local authority support provision in Germany and France through data from interviews in three regions and specific focus on three cities/ towns; Birmingham in the West Midlands, Pforzheim in BadenWurttemberg and Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne. Criticisms of the duplication of support effort and the lack of coordination have led to the establishment of the first Business Links in the UK. To some extent, these are intended to follow the German model of coordination and the re-focusing of support away from start-ups to existing firms that have 20-200 employees. We are critical of the extent to which Business Links can effectively coordinate enterprise support and target growth firms.