f) The BRE and departments have been developing and implementing communication strategies over the last year, but our survey showed mixed awareness of initiatives. Departments should ensure that initiatives address the key business concerns around complying with regulation. The results of our survey and qualitative work indicate that departments should focus on delivering initiatives and communications to businesses that:
• raise business awareness of which regulations apply to them;
• are tailored to the key information that different types of businesses require, for example, by considering factors such as size of business or length of time in existence; and
• improve certainty for businesses that they have complied fully with requirements.
g) Our qualitative interviews with business indicated that the business link website was an important source of information for many small businesses. The survey results show that only 33 per cent of businesses use the website as a source to help them comply. The BRE and departments should further promote and raise awareness of businesslink.gov.uk with small and medium sized enterprises. The website must provide up-to-date, clear and reliable information for business and should continue to provide information tailored a) by different stages in the business life cycle, and b) by different types of business.