2017 marks the 14th anniversary of Small Business Advice Week (SBAW).  Small and medium sized businesses make up 99% of all businesses in the UK, but with international conglomerates constantly grabbing the headlines, SBAW is shining the light on the unsung backbone of the UK economy.

With Article 50 sending shockwaves through the industry, more than ever SMEs need advice on how to optimise their enterprises. 92% of the UK’s SMEs are trading within the EU single market,[1] and over a fifth (21%) of Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) members employ EU citizens within the UK[2], making this a pivotal moment for many of these businesses.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW) will be hosting the highly-anticipated SBAW seminar on Wednesday 30th August, with industry leaders providing insight and advice to the UK’s SME sector.

Clive Lewis from ICAEW explains “This year we have partnered with Small Business Advice Week to provide support and assurance to SMEs across the UK. We will be providing insight and advice into all things accountancy, showing you don’t need a team of in-house accountants to maximise the financial efficiency of your business.”

With over 50% of SMEs using some form of cloud based software, and online growth becoming a priority, Barracuda Networks has partnered with SBAW to provide support to business owners who are journeying into the unknown when it comes to business tech. Barracuda has commented, “With so much on the line, and malicious software around every corner, we are delighted to be part of the solution when it comes to keeping SMEs secure online.”

9 Spokes will also be partnering with Small Business Advice Week, they enable SMEs to connect their software to one dynamic interface to give them a clear overview of their business. CEO Mark Estall comments, “Helping small businesses to find and use tools to manage their businesses effectively is core to what we do and essential for growth. We’re looking forward to being part of SBAW and working with small businesses across the UK.”

RateSetter is a peer-to-peer lending platform which has lent more than £400m to British businesses. The platform gives SMEs a decision in principle within 2 hours for loans up to £100k and within 24 hours for loans above £100k. RateSetter’s Paul Marston said: “At Ratesetter we are immensely proud to provide guidance and support to SMEs daily, and we are looking forward to discussing the finance options available to the UK’s Small Business economy.”

XLN’s Founder and CEO, Christian Nellemann, added: “As a business that’s worked with more than 250,000 small businesses, we have a good idea of what can help them to grow. We’ve partnered with Small Business Advice Week to share that knowledge. We’ll be looking at practical, useable tips – everything from cutting costs to marketing on a budget.”

Small Business Advice Week runs from the 4th -10th of September. Current partners available to provide advice and support to SMEs across the UK are:

About 9 Spokes: The 9 Spokes smart dashboard enables SMEs to connect their software to one dynamic interface – giving them a clear overview of their business. It allows management and advisors to access data and new metrics across key areas, from any device at any time. With these insights, it’s easier to make the big decisions to either manage or grow a business.

Businesses can integrate their supported software into the dashboard as well as choose from a selection of recommended and accredited apps to suit their industry.

The smart dashboard from 9 Spokes is available as a direct model to small businesses and as a white labelled platform that Channel Partners can offer to their SME customer base.

About Barracuda Networks: Barracuda Networks, Inc. offers industry-leading solutions designed to solve mainstream IT problems. Their products span three distinct markets, including: 1) content security, 2) networking and application delivery and 3) data storage, protection, and disaster recovery.

While they maintain a strong heritage in email and web security appliances, their award-winning portfolio includes more than a dozen purpose-built solutions that support literally every aspect of the network – providing organizations of all sizes with true end-to-end protection that can be deployed in hardware, virtual, cloud and mixed form factors.

About the ICAEW: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales is a world leading professional membership organisation that promotes, develops, and supports more than 147,000 members worldwide. They provide our members with knowledge and guidance, and ensure ICAEW Chartered Accountants are meeting the highest ethical and technical standards.

As financial experts, we act in the public interest offering insights into business and the economy that help to shape government policy and regulation.

About XLN: XLN supplies low-cost phone, broadband, card processing, gas and electricity exclusively to small businesses all over the UK. Founded by Christian Nellemann in 2002, it’s helped more than 250,000 small businesses to save on their utility bills. More recently, XLN has also added public Wi-Fi to its portfolio, which has revolutionised small business access to this valuable product; it already has more than 20,000 hotspots.

But above all, XLN is renowned for customer service – answering all calls in under 3 rings, from UK-based service centres. This has helped it achieve more 5-star reviews on Trustpilot than any other business in its sector.

About RateSetter: RateSetter investors have lent over £1.8bn to UK individuals and businesses.  The platform offers a ground-breaking proposition that allows investors to lend at interest rates set in an open market.

RateSetter pioneered the concept of a Provision Fund: all borrowers pay into the Fund, which reimburses investors in the event that a borrower misses a payment. RateSetter’s Provision Fund has a 100% track record to date, but capital is at risk and RateSetter is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

In 2014, RateSetter became the first marketplace lender to launch with a retail licence in Australia. In November 2016, the platform won Best Peer-to-Peer Lender in the FT and Investors Chronicle Wealth Management Awards for the third year running. RateSetter was the highest-rated platform by Which? readers in both 2015 and 2016.