A shake up of the Business Link system in the Midlands is set to be railroaded through despite fears from local chambers of commerce.
A single region-wide organisation to replace the locally administered service will take place early next year after being approved by the board of Advantage West Midlands.
Last month the head of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce called on AWM to think again before imposing the new structure.
Chief executive Ian Brough said he thought centralisation of the service would lead to more confusion among businesses and an extra layer of bureaucracy.
Currently advice and financial aid is distributed at a local level via local chambers.
But under the new plans, initial contact will come via a single 'gateway' and help offered on a sector rather than a geographical basis.
The Black Country Chamber argued that local expertise will be lost, while the "risk averse attitude" of civil servants impeded delivery in a commercial fashion.
Yesterday, Mr Brough remained tight-lipped about his views.
He said: "We are waiting to receive the full prospectus before we make further comments.
"But we do have very strong views about what is necessary to deliver appropriate support to the businesses of the Black Country and beyond."
Announcing the adoption of the new model which will come into effect on April 1 2007, AWM said it would enable greater funding to be directed to the end user and will also increase the quality of business advisers.
Advantage West Midlands chief executive John Edwards said: "The West Midlands Enterprise Board, which advises us on enterprise issues, has set us the challenging target of increasing business output by £1 billion annually within the next five years to bring the region's productivity performance up to the national average.
"After consulting with a wide range of stakeholders, the WMEB and companies, as well as the existing business support operators, we are confident this is the best model for delivering the Business Link brand in our region. The new model will ensure more of the funding gets to the people who need it - the businesses."
Mr Edwards said it would also be simpler for firms looking for support as well as meaning companies can enter the service at their preferred point. "There will also be an incentive for each element of the service to work together to deliver common standards of services and act in the customers' best interests."
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said it was also awaiting further details.
Business Links across the region are getting together to consider their response.
David Draycott, executive director of business services at the chamber, said: "We are pleased to be invited to bid for the key brokerage role in the new model. But we need to understand more of the detail of what AWM are looking for."
