Serco Group plc (“Serco”) today announces that it has been selected by the London Development Agency (LDA) to provide a range of advice and support services to London’s 600,000 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Business Link service is due to start in April 2007. The period between then and now will see a handover from existing provider Business Link for London to Serco. The agreement is worth £60 million over three years plus an option to renew for two additional years. The successful bid draws on skills and experience from across the group, including Serco Science and Solutions.

Serco will manage London’s Business Link operation, which provides a range of services to support the competitiveness of London’s business community through:

• web-based and call centre-distributed business information
• diagnostic services to assess the needs of individual businesses
• introducing service providers to the assessed SME clients

In London, Serco activities include running Docklands Light Railway and traffic management support for Transport for London, ground support for the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service based at Whitechapel and IT services to seven London Boroughs.

The new award builds on Serco’s recent success in knowledge transfer opportunities. In November 2005, Serco announced a contract worth up to £125 million over nine years to operate the national www.businesslink.gov.uk programe on behalf of the Government’s Small Business Service.

Manny Lewis, LDA Chief Executive said: “Ensuring that small and medium sized businesses have access to the right type of support is a key area of development for the LDA. Over the three years, Serco will support more than half of London’s business entrepreneurs including women and those from Black and Minority Ethnic Groups (BAME) who sometimes find it more difficult to negotiate the business world.

“Together with Serco we can share expertise and experience to achieve the maximum impact for London’s rapidly-moving economy, while at the same time providing value for money.”  

Chris Hyman, Serco Group Chief Executive said: “We are very pleased to be chosen by the London Development Agency to contribute in this way to London’s economic success. We share the LDA’s ambition, to encourage, advise and support small businesses across the capital to help them grow, thus maintaining and building on London’s pre-eminent position as the best place to do business in Europe.”

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