ABOUT THE NFEA

The Federation

NFEA is a network of independent, not for profit, Local Enterprise Agencies and similar organisations committed to responding to the needs of small and growing businesses by providing a range of appropriate quality services. In particular, but not exclusively, our members target pre-start, start-up and micro businesses and assist in building their ability to survive, to sustain themselves and to grow. Get the NFEA Fact Sheet here (320kb PDF).

NFEA aims to influence Government, the EU and other key decision makers in the development of effective strategies which will assist small businesses to sustain themselves and, ultimately, to prosper. NFEA is able to do this because Enterprise Agencies are close to their clients, recognising needs and meeting those needs. NFEA aims to encourage continuous improvement in the quality of Enterprise Agency performance to ensure that agencies can continue to meet those needs efficiently.

NFEA also has a valuable role to play in representing the views of Enterprise Agencies, but is not a lobbying organisation simply run to ensure that Enterprise Agencies continue to receive public funding. It will, of course, stress that Enterprise Agencies have an important role to play assisting small businesses to start and to grow.

There is a clear need for NFEA to be a representative voice for the small business support network - for example, in the development of counselling and consultancy standards and for businesses, and in the development of the owner manager qualification.