Half-price consultancy
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• The road transport industry has been slow to take advantage of a Board of Trade pilot scheme—closing on February 28— offering half the cost of consultancy fees for approved projects. The plan was designed to meet the needs of firms employing from 25 to 500 in the Bristol and Glasgow areas. Such firms could save themselves up to £5,000—half the ceiling figure.
I am told that in the transport and communications category only four applications have been submitted to the Board of Trade. Three of these are from Bristol and one from Glasgow. This is rather curious, for up to January 31 the BoT had approved 229 assignments 179 in Bristol and 150 in Glasgow}, involving £352,000 in grants.
The pilot scheme resulted in a total of about 1,000 initial inquiries, some of which were not finalized in the form of official applications for grant. The four applications involving transport firms have qualified, in total, for some £8.000 in grant. This type of -bargain consultancy" is certainly worth the consideration of transport organizations for I understand that the BoT interprets the sizes of eligible
firms sympathetically—a firm with fewer than 25 employees could well be lucky.
The results of the pilot scheme are now being evaluated and it is possible that a national scheme on the same lines will be formulated.
The funds remaining available under the scheme are limited and applications received by the BoT up to February 28, which are accompanied by a preliminary survey report by the consultant whom it is proposed to employ, will be considered in the order in which they are received. Applications received after February 28 will not be eligible for grants.
Firms seeking information about the scheme should apply:—
In Bristol to the Consultancy Grants Officer, Board of Trade, The Pithay, Bristol, 1. (Telephone: 0272-21071.1 In Glasgow to the Consultancy Grants Officer, Board of Trade Office for Scotland, 314, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, C.3. (Telephone: 041-248 2855.) In London to Economic (General) Division 1, Board of Trade, 1. Victoria Street, London, S.W.1. (Telephone: 01-222 7877, Ext. 2550.)