INVESTMENT of more than £8m will be ploughed into small businesses in York and North Yorkshire before March 2008, Business Link is predicting.

Under the Business Support Scheme, investment in support services for businesses in North Yorkshire has exceeded £3m in the past three years.

However, Business Link York and North Yorkshire is predicting that will rise to £8.4m within the next two years.

Chief executive Helen West said: "A significant proportion of the work we do is at the sharp end, helping businesses to identify and access the most appropriate business support for their situation, and this is the part of our work with which many people will be familiar.

"However, because we understand the issues businesses in the sub-region are facing, and the kind of support they need, we are also ideally placed to fulfil our unseen role.

"This involves working at the heart of a partnership group with public and private sector organisations to ensure that investment channelled into business support programmes meets the objectives set out in the regional economic strategy and encourages entrepreneurship and existing business growth."

She said Business Link was hoping to continue to help indigenous businesses, as well as making the area a more attractive place for enterprise.