GLE oneLondon

«GLE Group comprises four business areas each focussed on maximising the potential of individuals, small enterprises and growing businesses. By bringing commercial know-​how in economic development, finance and regeneration GLE delivers public policy objectives».
That’s the blurb on the website and I went to GLE on a recommendation from businesslink. For my purposes, I am interested in setting up a business but a bit clueless as where to start. I had an hour and half meeting with a guy called Jorge who explained all that I need to do as a starting point and also the ways that GLE could support me. He was patient and gave me loads of advice.
I think it’s really great that there is so much support for initiation of enterprise in London. All the services that GLE offer are for free and if you are thinking about a business, this is definitely the first place to go.
There’s all the obligatory paperwork to fill in. As with all publicly funded operations, the funders need to see where and how their money is being spent, but it’s a small amount of effort for the support.
One thing that I was unhappy with was that I signed up for a tax seminar and when I arrived on the day, it had been canceled. No apologies were given and when Jorge phoned me the next day I yelled at him, which was a bit unfair as he is in a completely different division and office.