This thesis investigates small employment growth businesses and their use of accountancy support in the Northern region of England. Two separate and independent surveys of accountants and small business in the region are used to explore this issue. The thesis also uses three robust measures of growth. The thesis finds that small firms that experience fast employment growth are more likely to use government sponsored support rather than the support provided by accountants or other sources. This is a surprising finding, particularly as accountancy support is often identified as being the most common source of support for small firms. The thesis then goes onto to investigate if this is due to a demand side failure. The thesis finds little evidence of this. It also finds that the supply of accountancy services is constrained and accountants adopt a reactive rather than proactive approach to their clients. The implication of these findings is that there is evidence to suggest that there is a supply-side failure in the provision of accountancy services to fast growth businesses. This suggests that publicly funded provision of support to small firms who have experienced employment growth is important. It also suggests that accountancy practitioners may have to re-orientate their support they offer to such clients.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:369577 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Green, Francis Joseph |
| Publisher | Durham University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1233/ |
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