SEFTON Council is surveying all businesses in the borough to improve the services it and its partners offer them.

The business support survey follows a similar exercise about two years ago.

But council director of planning and economic regeneration, Andy Wallis, said the current survey was pertinent, given the extreme shift in trading conditions during the intervening period.

He said: “We live in very challenging times at the moment, so we need to be very alert to what our local businesses are saying to us.

“We did a similar survey a couple of years ago, and although you would not say the current circumstances are unique, they are quite different to the time of the last survey.”

The campaign involves 800 telephone interviews, a postal campaign and online research. It will establish how firms use business support services and their future business support service requirements.

A separate survey will be conducted covering Southport taking into account the resort’s investment strategy and the different needs of its leisure and tourism-related businesses.

The phone survey is already under way and postal forms will start to be delivered from June 21. Mr Wallis hopes to publish the survey findings either in mid-July or by the end of July.