The Research into the Barriers to Take-up and Use of Business Support, 2011 study was a one-off survey concerned with the barriers to the take up of formal external assistance, the reasons for such barriers and whether there is evidence of market failure, and the extent of latent demand for business support services. The research differentiates between: (i) non users of external assistance; (ii) users of private sector external assistance such as from accountants, solicitors, consultants, and trade associations; and (iii) users of public sector business assistance such as from Business Link, UK Trade and Investment, and local authorities. The research was based on a CATI telephone survey of the owner-managers of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in England undertaken in March 2011. Linking to other business studies These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.For Secure Lab projects applying for access to this study as well as to SN 6697 Business Structure Database and/or SN 7683 Business Structure Database Longitudinal, only postcode-free versions of the data will be made available. The survey included questions relating to the following topics:business profilechallenges and problems to growth and business developmentuse of external sources of information and advice over the last three yearsnon-users of external assistancegrowth performance and ambitionsThe data files also include the following variables for the respondent companies:Enterprise Reference Numbers for nearly half of the companiesbroad Standard Industrial Classification codesurban-rural indicatorsgeographical variables, including region, county, town, and postcode