Ms Maria Ginnity:

The establishment of the local enterprise offices, LEOs, will play an important role in enhancing the supports available to all small firms. They will provide a first-stop-shop to signpost firms to direct supports both financial supports and advisory services. Within each of the LEOs an SME online tool is available. It is relatively simple to use. It asks the company to answer eight questions which will be around the sector in which it is involved, its scale, its market orientations and will signpost it to either the direct agency or the supports that are more relevant to it. It is very much a signposting tool but easy to use electronically. There is that online tool in the first instance and, second, the LEO offices acting as the first port of call for all small entities is an important step in that regard.