Getting Up and Running
This advice lists the 10 key steps to drive your BBfA programme from concept to reality,
with supporting links where appropriate to resources in the BBfA toolkit provided by the
Better Regulation Delivery Office. There are also several links to practice examples at the
end.
1 Do the necessary groundwork
The recommendations in Starting the Conversation provide the foundation for progress.
In summary, they are to:
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capture the views of business and regulators concerning local regulation;
use this information to propose the issues to be addressed by BBfA;
stage an initial meeting with representatives from business and regulators to discuss better
regulation and gain broad agreement as to the way forward; and
liaise with your LEP to obtain endorsement for the programme.
If this groundwork hasn’t been done you should consider and implement the measures in Starting
the Conversation before proceeding with the other key steps. (However, in a few areas BBfA is
being taken forward without LEP involvement.) An information sheet giving basic details on the
programme is also available below.
Starting the Conversation
BBfA Briefing Note
2 Identify your stakeholders
As noted in Starting the Conversation, there is a core group of people from business and regulatory
services who will need to be involved with BBfA at the outset for it to be a success. However, there
is also a wider group – your stakeholders – who should be identified, with the aim of keeping them
informed of progress and gaining their support. This will reflect the nature of your area, but could
extend to, for example, representatives from the major businesses based there, local business
organisations, local government services in general (such as building control and planning), and
any national regulators with a regional presence.
Briefing Note for Councillors
Getting Up and Running
3 Refine your objectives
Following the initial discussions of your core group, it is likely that you will already have a basic action
plan, with a number of general objectives. Typical examples of these are:
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Reduce the regulatory burden on businesses.
Promote dialogue between businesses and regulatory services.
Improve the business perception of regulators.
Encourage the right balance between encouragement, education and enforcement.
Develop a joint offer of support from regulatory services for businesses.
The requirement is now to develop more specific objectives tailored to the needs of your local area,
to shape a work programme. However, these do need to remain aligned with the purpose of BBfA: to
bring businesses and local regulators together to build trust between them and to consider and
change how local regulation is delivered and received.
4 Create your governance structure
The right structure to deliver BBfA will vary depending on your objectives and existing arrangements
but something will need to be put in place. In Leicester and Leicestershire, for example, there are
three distinct bodies: a Steering Group chaired by a LEP Board member provides direction with
regard to a work programme against which progress is measured, guided by input from a Business
Focus Panel and a Regulatory Services Partnership. All have distinct terms of reference. The Steering
Group can task the BFP or the RSP to address specific issues, while any of the three can convene Task
and Finish Groups to discuss and develop particular activities and products.
Leicester LEP Governance
5 Produce your work programme
As mentioned previously, it is likely that you will already have a basic action plan, which should now
be translated into a work programme. This will identify the actions required to meet your specific
objectives and set their timescales. To assist the assessment of progress, quantified targets should be
included where possible.
Once produced, the work programme will need to be reviewed and amended on a regular basis.
6 Resource your activity
Depending on factors such as your local circumstances, the level of stakeholder involvement, the
extent of your governance arrangements and the scope of your work programme, there may be a
case for a dedicated co-ordinator, potentially joint funded by participating local authorities. The
specific role description for such a position will clearly vary from area to area, but is likely to include
some or all of the following elements:
A Work programme:
 Develop the programme, liaising with the Chair
 Facilitate its delivery, liaising with stakeholders as required
 Monitor activities, informing the Group of any issues or concerns
 Produce an annual progress report and present it to the Group
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Getting Up and Running
B Operations:
 Organise and manage Group meetings, providing policy input and taking minutes
 Organise and manage all stakeholder communications
 Support innovative projects agreed by the Group as appropriate
 Respond to national requests for information about local initiatives
C
BBfA Ambassador:
 Raise local awareness of the work programme and encourage participation
 Organise and deliver stakeholder events as and when required
 Attend other meetings and events as appropriate, presenting when requested
D Liaison with the LEP:
 Ensure the work programme is in line with the LEP priorities
 Be the point of contact with the LEP, liaising with its members as required
 Provide input in relation to the development of the LEP Growth Hub
Briefing Note on European Funding Opportunities
7 Engage local businesses
Staging a launch event for all local businesses – beyond those represented in your core group – will
foster interest in the BBfA programme and provide scope for networking and relationship building.
Business people are invariably busy and will need suitable incentives to attend. Schedule the event
over breakfast or in the early evening, so that it doesn’t take much time out of the working day, and
keep it concise: two hours should be sufficient. After a brief introduction to BBfA, focus on your work
programme, highlighting its benefits to business. Get members of the business community involved
where possible. This will encourage attendance and add credibility to the messages being delivered.
Always draw on the experience of the business leaders in your core group to help organise and
promote any events aimed at the wider business community.
Another way to engage local businesses is to make relevant advice available to them. To this end, the
BBfA resources include an information sheet and two templates for use: a leaflet giving businesses
basic details on inspections, and a booklet providing them with essential information on the
regulatory areas that apply to them at start-up.
Inspection Made Simple
Business Regulation Made Simple
Briefing Note on Business Improvement Districts
8 Engage local regulators
Since BBfA is about changing the way that businesses experience local regulation, it can be achieved
only by gaining the support of all those working in regulatory services. Four BBfA resources address
this requirement. An information sheet gives the background and explains what is happening, while
short presentation outlines the five stages of the standard business life cycle, together with their
implications for the support regulators provide. There are also two template documents concerned
with training. One provides hints and tips about arranging an event to provide officers with a better
understanding of the system they work in, while the other gives guidance on arranging a course for
officers that includes a visit to a local business, with the aim of helping them appreciate what it is like
to be on the receiving end of an inspection.
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Getting Up and Running
Briefing Note for Regulatory Services Staff
Regulation and the Business Life Cycle
Organisational Awareness Training
Business Awareness Training
9 Communicate effectively
Your work programme should be accompanied by a communications plan, to guide your efforts to
reach your wider group of stakeholders. Some advice on this matter is given in the Communications
Guide. Clearly, this is an extensive subject, but in terms of ‘top tips’:
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Stay in line with your objectives.
Keep your approach consistent.
Match the content to the audience.
Repeat and reinforce key messages.
Validate statements with evidence.
Respond to any criticism with facts.
Use of the BBfA brand will provide weight and coherence to your communications. Any LEP or other
organisation adopting the BBfA programme can use the logo on its website, as long as the page
heading is Better Business for All and the page content is relevant. Any LEP or other organisation
adopting the BBfA programme can also use the logo on BBfA resources from the toolkit, as long as
the amendments are limited to the addition of its own logo, contact details, local photographs and
specific local support information, for example ‘how we can help’.
The creation a BBfA Charter can serve as a focus for communications activity.
Communications Guide
Brand Guidelines
BBfA Logo, Icon and Photo: Print
BBfA Logo, Icon and Photo: Web
Sample Charters
10 Get involved with your Growth Hub
Finally, you will need to draw BBfA to the attention of your Growth Hub, the development of which
may be led by your LEP or a City.
Growth Hubs are intended to be a one-stop shop, providing businesses in defined local areas with a
single contact point and access to advice, finance and training. They provide a good opportunity for
regulatory services to present themselves as a key part of a wider business support solution.
Some Growth Hubs are already operational, while others are being established, but every area will
have one shortly.
Before approaching your Growth Hub, you should be clear what you are offering, and be able to
demonstrate how it will help meet Growth Hub priorities and support local economic growth.
Briefing Note on Growth Hubs
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Getting Up and Running
BBfA Route Map
Key Steps
Do the necessary groundwork
Resources
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Starting the Conversation
BBfA Briefing Note
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Identify your stakeholders
Briefing Note for Councillors
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Refine your objectives
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Create your governance structure
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Leicester LEP Governance
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Produce your work programme
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Briefing Note on European
Funding Opportunities
Resource your activity
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Engage local businesses
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Inspection Made Simple
Business Regulation Made Simple
Briefing Note on BIDs
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Briefing Note for Regulatory Services Staff
Regulation and the Business Life Cycle
Organisational Awareness Training
Business Awareness Training
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Communications Guide
Brand Guidelines
BBfA Logo, Icon and Photo: Print and Web
Sample Charters
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Briefing Note on Growth Hubs
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Engage local regulators
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Communicate effectively
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Get involved with your Growth Hub
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Getting Up and Running
Practice examples
Better Business Regulation
Business support on local regulation provided on the Derbyshire and Nottingham (D2N2) Growth
Hub
The Law and your Business
Business support on local regulation provided on the Leicester and Leicestershire Growth Hub,
including a link to templates to help local authority officers meet their regulatory obligations under
the Gambling Act 2005
Better Business for All
Business support on local regulation provided on the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub, with
single points of contact for environmental health, trading standards, licensing, animal health, fire and
planning
Better Business for All
Business support on local regulation provided by Hertfordshire LEP
Business Regulation
Business support on local regulation provided by Stratford on Avon District Council, part of the
Coventry and Warwickshire LEP
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