Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK BIS RESEARCH PAPER NO. 193 Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK DECEMBER 2014 1 Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK Contents Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... i Introduction ................................................................................................................................. ii Policy context and background .................................................................................................... ii Key findings ................................................................................................................................ ii Findings for GOV.UK and Helpline ............................................................................................. iv GOV.UK ..................................................................................................................................... iv Business Support Helpline .......................................................................................................... v Social media ..............................................................................................................................vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Policy background / context for evaluation .................................................................................. 1 Terms of reference ...................................................................................................................... 2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 3 Policy context and background ................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 8 Key strategic and policy drivers ................................................................................................... 8 Demand for business support ................................................................................................... 11 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 11 Survey evidence ....................................................................................................................... 11 Stakeholder views ..................................................................................................................... 16 Use of internet for business support .......................................................................................... 17 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 21 GOV.UK ....................................................................................................................................... 23 1 Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 23 Background to GOV.UK ............................................................................................................ 23 Profile of GOV.UK users ........................................................................................................... 26 Reasons for using GOV.UK ...................................................................................................... 35 Awareness of GOV.UK.............................................................................................................. 39 Experience of using GOV.UK .................................................................................................... 43 Extent to which GOV.UK is addressing market failure ............................................................... 48 Actions taken since as a result of using GOV.UK ...................................................................... 51 Impact of GOV.UK .................................................................................................................... 58 Overall economic impact and value for money .......................................................................... 63 Sensitivity analysis .................................................................................................................... 64 Reasons for non-use ................................................................................................................. 66 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 67 Business Support Helpline ........................................................................................................ 70 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 70 Background to the Business Support Helpline ........................................................................... 70 Profile of Helpline users ............................................................................................................ 73 Synergy with GOV.UK ............................................................................................................... 82 Reasons for calling the Helpline ................................................................................................ 84 Awareness of Helpline .............................................................................................................. 89 Assistance provided by the Helpline .......................................................................................... 93 Extent to which Helpline is addressing market failure .............................................................. 103 Actions taken since as a result of calling the Helpline ............................................................. 107 Impact of the Helpline ............................................................................................................. 114 Overall economic impact and value for money ........................................................................ 123 Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK Sensitivity analysis .................................................................................................................. 124 Reasons for non-use ............................................................................................................... 125 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 127 Social media .............................................................................................................................. 130 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 130 Background to (Business Link) social media ........................................................................... 130 Profile of social media users ................................................................................................... 131 Social media use by business owners ..................................................................................... 132 Reasons for using Business Link social media ........................................................................ 133 How Business Link Twitter is used .......................................................................................... 134 Opinions about Business Link social media............................................................................. 135 Suggestions for improvements ................................................................................................ 135 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 137 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 139 Annex One: Aims and Objectives of Business Support Helpline .......................................... 142 Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK BIS Expert Peer Review for Evaluation The BIS Expert Peer Review Group for Evaluation reviews all BIS impact evaluation publications, and provides an independent assessment of the methodological quality of the evaluation. This publication was peer reviewed by Dr Edward Anderson and Professor David Torgerson. The peer reviewers’ assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-support-helpline-and- govuk-evaluation i Evaluation of the Business Support Helpline and GOV.UK Executive Summary Introduction Ecorys was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to conduct an evaluation of GOV.UK and the Business Support Helpline, including the telephone helpline and