A spokesman said the current total of more than 180 schemes, which provide annual support of 500m, would fall to 10 by next April.

It will mean that there is more clarity as to what each scheme will offer and to which businesses they are best suited, he said.

Vision in Prints Andrew Brown thought the end product would look for more strategic initiatives and would place more emphasis on innovation.

He said support schemes had started to focus on issues such as research and development, best practices, knowledge transfer, innovation and investment.

Simplifying the schemes would give businesses easier access to support, he added.