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£2,000 worth of ‘Growth Vouchers’ will be available to up to 20,000 small businesses in the UK under a new government scheme.

Lord Young, Enterprise Advisor to the Prime Minister, is spearheading the campaign, which is aimed to help small businesses receive the support and advice they need to grow.

Businesses that have been running for a year, have fewer than 50 employees and have not paid for strategic external advice in the last three years can apply for the Growth Vouchers.

The value of the Growth Vouchers received, which will be up to £2,000 per business, must be match-funded by the small business. Successful applicants will be chosen at random by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office’s Behavioural Insights Team.

Small businesses can visit a new marketplace developed by Enterprise Nation to get help on topics such as finance, cash flow, recruitment, developing staff, leadership & management, marketing, attracting new business and using digital technology.

Payment will be due to the supplier from the small business but will be reimbursed by the Growth Voucher scheme.

The government will use the scheme to assess the impact of making support and advice available to help small business growth. The programme will run for 15 months, until March 2015, and will test what works best when giving advice to small businesses.  

Enterprise Nation has also launched The Business Exchange, a platform through which small businesses can partner with larger companies, including Sainsbury’s, Facebook, BT and Balfour Beatty, that have pledged their support with offers of investment and sharing of assets and ideas.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This will make it easier for you to grow, to create jobs and to help give this country the long-term security we are working towards.”

Growth Vouchers are just one of several initiatives pledged by Mr Cameron to cut red tape for businesses and encourage small business growth in the UK.