This is the first of a regular series of updates from Heyes on what's going on at DTI level that will impact on the leisure marine industry in the UK. Such as the recently announced funding of a major piece of consultancy looking at competitiveness in the boatbuilding sector with KPMG carrying out the analysis.

This study will impact heavily on other sources on government funding and shows the government considers our sector important for the future of British manufacturing.

Back in April last year, the DTI reduced over 200 complex and difficult to access support products (grants) to just a handful suitable for most business needs. A decision was made that rather than provide sector-specific support, the DTI would provide crosssector support, which would be applicable for all types of business, and make them easy to access through the local Business Link network.

"When we look at business in general, we see three ingredients that make for a successful business recipe, " says Heyes.

"The first is a strategic plan for the company. Secondly, we see excellence in internal processes and thirdly, we see wide and balanced investment which also incorporates innovation, R&D and capital expenditure."

These new support grants aim to attack all these aspects of business but a specific focus is being put on R&D and innovation, which the DTI sees as being key for the future success of all UK business.

Lean programmes Some marine businesses may have tried a "lean" programme to improve manufacturing efficiencies and productivity, thanks to support offered through Regional Development Areas (RDAs).

There's no doubt this can lead to great gains, but the DTI recommends a benchmark is carried out first to assess where your business is at and where there are real issues or problems. A simple, FREE diagnostic questionnaire has been developed that takes around a morning to complete.

From this, a detailed report is produced that compares your business against others in the same category and highlights areas of weakness.

The diagnostic is carried out by a local Business Link representative and is then analysed and, if required, flexible grants are available for subsidised consultancies to rectify the area(s) causing problems.

According to Heyes, however, in many cases, the diagnostic acts as a wake-up call and the business is able to rectify the problem for itself - after all nobody knows your business better than you do.

The diagnostic looks at areas such as internal processes, human resources, marketing and financials, so it is well worth considering (especially as it's free) for any marine business employing less than 250 people.

Further details of this best practice product can be obtained from the businesslink. gov. uk website. There are also useful publications on best practice and improving business processes at the dti. gov. uk/bss website.

For the next few months, Boating Business will look at the new support products and tell you how to access and benefit from them. Next month will cover grants for R&D and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, where businesses can partner with local academic institutions for a specific research project and receive a subsidy towards the cost of seconding an academic to help - together with access to the academic's host institution.

If you've an idea you want to explore, please e-mail nick. heyes@dti.gsi.gov.uk