Brownlee: 68% increase in calls to business helpline

MELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister for Economic Development: What is the Government doing to help small and medium sized enterprises? Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Economic Development) : In early February the Prime Minister announced a range of business support measures, which included the business health check website and the BIZ helpline for small to medium sized enterprises. These are difficult times for small to medium sized enterprises, and the BIZ helpline is a free service that provides advisers able to answer some of the questions that people have that they perhaps cannot ask of their bank, accountant, or anyone else, for that matter. I can report that 968 phone calls were made to the helpline in February, and 980 calls in March"”a 68 percent increase. That is a very large increase on the average rate from the previous 7 months. Melissa Lee: What other measures has the Government undertaken to assist small and medium sized enterprises? Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Quite apart from the changes to the tax system, the business advisory BIZ helpline is also available to refer businesses that wish to engage with mentors, with those appropriate people to assist them. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is paying the $100 registration fee usually charged. Since this offer was made available in February, 209 firms have been referred to Business Mentors New Zealand services, and 110 of those firms have contacted a business mentor. We believe that the scheme is of great value to many of those small businesses that are struggling at the present time.