draft business support strategy 2009-13.doc

EEDA’s

Business Support Strategy

2009-2012

Draft

Contents

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. Current regional business support offer

3. Providing a robust business support offer in the region

4. How will we do this?

5. How do we know if we are making a difference?

Appendix 1 – Partner engagement in developing the strategy

Appendix 2 – EEDA’s progress in implementing Better for Business

Appendix 3 – EEDA’s business support offer

Draft – October 2009 1

Foreword

Businesses are the lifeblood of our economy in the East of England and we must ensure that the business support we provide is meeting the needs of our businesses.

Since the launch of Better for Business, the regional business support strategy, in 2005 we have made significant improvements to our business support offer. We have made it easier for businesses to access the support they need by simplifying our business support services through the implementation of Solutions for Business and by taking on the Train to Gain skills brokerage from the Learning and Skills Council and merging it into our new single regional Business Link service. We have launched our Integrated Specialist Business Support Service, integrating the Manufacturing Advisory Service, Designing Demand and Innovation, Advice and Guidance into one coherent offer to manufacturing businesses. This particular service has been boosted by successfully tapping into European funding to increase the amount of support we can provide. We have also created a virtual women’s business centre, one of four national pilots, to provide women with the specialist business support they need at every stage of their businesses journey.

However, we must not become complacent. The changes in the economy brought about by the downturn; the requirement to merge Train to Gain and Business Link into one integrated service; along with new direction in Government thinking, means that the time is now right to take a detailed look at the support EEDA provides. The strategy specifically focuses on EEDA funded business support and whilst there is no new funding to deliver increased services and the public sector budgets are under increased pressures, this will not stop us from taking an innovative look at the business support we provide to ensure it is efficient and effective and above all else meets the needs of our region’s businesses.

I’d like to thank the Business Support Strategy Steering Group for giving their time and expertise in overseeing the development of the strategy and for all those partner organisations that took an active role in shaping the content.

Richard EllisChair of EEDA


1. Introduction

The East of England has one of the strongest economies in the UK. Over the last 20 years the region has had one of the highest long-term economic growth rates and one of the highest employment rates of the UK regions. The region has 259,050 VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses in 20091, with the Regional Business Support Information System (RBSIS) having just over 400,000 active businesses registered2. The regional economy has a strong base of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs), with 99.7 per cent of the enterprises employing less than 250 employees and 91 per cent of the regions enterprises having a turnover of less than one million pounds per annum3. Historically, enterprise survival rates have been very high, exceeding the UK average.

But there is still work to be done to improve the performance of the region’s businesses and encouraging more people, including those from under-represented groups, to start an enterprise, which in turn will improve the region’s productivity, economic growth and job creation.

Helping our region’s businesses be ‘Better for Business’Evidence shows that enterprises that seek business support advice tend to report greater profits than those that do not. These business are also more likely to grow, more likely to survive, less likely to close in financial distress and have more stable patterns of financial management.

‘Better for Business’ the business support strategy for the East of England was developed in 2005 by the East of England Skills and Competitiveness Partnership. The strategy sets out the aspirations the region wants to achieve and the broad direction of travel. The high level strategic objectives are:

1. To provide those businesses with growth potential with the knowledge, guidance and methods needed to compete in, and respond quickly to, market opportunities and changing technological environments2. To direct support to those businesses which can achieve the greatest sustainable increases in productivity, growth and economic performance3. To achieve higher rates of business creation with strong prospects of growth and high survival rates4. To foster more effective working relationships between brokers, advisors, solution providers and business clients, where this can lead to greater business productivity, growth and performance5. To ensure that businesses are fully aware of the services available to them and that they find it easy to access the support they need6. To ensure that the maximum level of resources are directed towards business support activities with the greatest impact on economic performance at local and sub-regional level, while meeting regional economic objectives

1 Inter Departmental Business Register, 20082 EEDA’s Regional Business Support Information System August 20093 Inter Departmental Business Register, 2008


7. To get the most out of the contribution of all elements of the business support supply chain by creating harmonious relationships between the public and private sectors.

Whilst the objectives are very broad in their scope and many are still relevant today, a lot has changed over the last few years which impacts on businesses and consequently the business support that EEDA needs to provide.

Economic DownturnThe British economy is in the midst of a downturn and while the region has faired better than many other regions due to the diverse economy and lesser reliance on traditional manufacturing, there have still been 30,000 job losses, business output has reduced and supply chains affected. However, this is not the case across the board, with EEDA’s analysis of the impacts of the recession to date shows that the region’s pharmaceutical, technology, niche manufacturing and agricultural sectors have maintained growth.

The latest RDA-sponsored National Business Survey, which was carried out in July 2009,

found that two thirds of businesses in the East of England (and nationally) had experienced

much more intense price competition over the last 12 months4. The survey also asked

businesses how they had reacted to deteriorating economic conditions over the last year. By

far the most popular action taken was to pursue new markets / customers, with 61 per cent of

firms in the East of England reporting this.

Businesses in the East of England are perhaps a little more positive than nationally: the PMI results for June reveal slightly higher growth in output and new orders in the region compared to the UK as a whole. Seventy six per cent of National Business Survey respondents in the region, when asked how well placed they were to weather adverse economic conditions over the next 12 months, thought that they were well placed, compared to 72 per cent nationally5.

EEDA has flexed the business support offer to meet the needs of businesses at this time. This includes relaxing criteria for our business support and introducing new services such as;

o free and anonymous health checks administered by Business Link East, as well as free events saving businesses around £400,000,

o a new business map to make it easies for businesses to access public sector support via www.bizmapeast.co.uk

o Increased collaboration with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), helping businesses capitalise on opportunities in overseas markets.

o Work with supply chains in sectors particularly effected by the recession, such as automotive and food processing to safeguard jobs and enable companies to diversify and identify new customers and markets

o Introduction of a new £5m transitional loan fund

4 National Business Survey, Quarter 2 20095 National Business Survey, Quarter 2 2009


http://www.bizmapeast.co.uk/

Solutions for BusinessBusinesses have said they are confused by all the public sector business support available, resulting in many businesses being discouraged from accessing the help they need. This is why in Better for Business one of the key priorities was simplifying publically funded business support. This came to fruition when Government introduced Solutions for Business (SfB) in 2007, which aims to make all publicly funded business support more effective, easier to access and better value for money. The main elements of SfB are:

Business Link as the main route to support, offering impartial assessment and advice and bespoke packages of support.

Streamline the 3,000 business support schemes to a single portfolio of around 30 support products and services shared across government to achieve consistency at national, regional and local levels. This includes new and existing products and draws on the best of current practice. All products are now in place and will be reviewed on a regular basis. In most cases, businesses face similar issues across the UK so a standardised national portfolio makes sense.

The products have a similar look and feel called ‘Solutions for Business brand’. This will help businesses quickly identify publicly funded business support.

New Government ThinkingIndustrial activism is, at its heart, about readiness for the upturn and preparing for a world economy that is expected to be very different, and more challenging, than that experienced before the recession. ‘New Industry, New Jobs’ (NINJ)6 launched in April 2009, does not mark a return to old industrial policies, ‘picking winners’, government substituting for the market or propping up failing companies. It is about removing barriers to success, creating conditions in which businesses can thrive and providing targeted support to industry. The key points are:

Industrial activism involves integrating policy areas and developing a cross-departmental approach to ensure that all government departments and agencies are required to promote business competitiveness and to take account of how their activities will impact on businesses

The priority areas for action and reform are identified as innovation, skills, finance, infrastructure and access to growing global markets

Proposals include:o Support growing and high innovation firms to access financeo More support for businesses to access new or overseas marketso A coherent strategy for developing a modern infrastructure to support businesseso Improve intelligence on the skills requirements of businesseso Using public procurement to drive innovation and raise skills levelso Build a clearer understanding of the challenges and capabilities of UK based

businesses and to work with sectoral bodies to enhance capacityo Developing tailored Government policies, focused on specific sectors or markets, to

remove barriers to success and create an environment for businesses to thriveo Focus on key sectors; health and life sciences; digital industries and ICT; low

carbon; and advanced manufacturing.

6 New Industry, New Jobs, BERR and DIUS (now BIS), April 2009


EEDA, working with national departments and agencies, the RDA network and regional partners, has a major role to play in contributing to the development and implementation of the NINJ national framework and the policy commitments set out by Government.

Integrated business support offerThe 2007 Pre-budget Report announced Government’s commitment to launch a single integrated business support brokerage from 1 April 2009. This is in keeping with the Government’s Solutions for Business approach and provides a more streamlined and coherent delivery of business support via the Business Link channel.

Through an integrated approach businesses will benefit from a seamless delivery of business support, a standardised operation and a comprehensive business and skills needs analysis that enables a business to be effectively brokered to quality suppliers of support and training.

This has resulted in EEDA re-procuring the Integrated Business Support Service (Train to Gain and Business Link) into one contract. It is important that this strategy shapes the delivery of this new service, due to commence in April 2010.

Regional Economic Strategy and EEDA’s Corporate PlanSince 2005, there has also been the development of a new Regional Economic Strategy (RES), launched in 2008. This sets out a vision, bold targets and priorities for driving the East of England forward as a globally competitive region. The RES is owned by the region, and will be delivered through the collective work of political, business and community leaders and institutions. The East of England Implementation Plan has been developed, which clearly shows how the RES and the Regional Spatial Strategy will be delivered. There is also a new EEDA Corporate Plan for 2008-2011 setting out the investment priorities for the years ahead. All documents have involved in-depth engagement with partner organisations to agree the priorities, which this strategy will deliver against. The priorities for enterprise are listed below, although it’s acknowledged that this strategy will also assist in delivering the priorities for innovation, digital economy and economic participation.

Strengthening the region’s enterprise culture Increasing opportunities from international trade, investment and collaboration Enabling high-growth businesses to realise their potential Improving enterprise performance through effective business support

A fresh look at the services EEDA providesThe time is now right to take a fresh look at the business support services EEDA funds and the contribution EEDA is making to deliver Better for Business, to ensure the organisation is doing everything it can to support a thriving and entrepreneurial business community.

This strategy provides a framework and clear direction for EEDA funded business support, a framework which can be adopted by partner organisations. It clarifies the support offer in


place, how this will be adapted to reflect the priorities in the Regional Economic Strategy, other change drivers, and priorities identified at the stakeholder workshop in August 2009, and it also sets the priorities and actions for moving forward.

This strategy fits neatly into the nest of strategies that exist in the region, as shown in Diagram 1. The RDA will have a key role in leading the development of the new Regional Skills Strategy which will set the framework for the delivery of regional economic development skills money, encompassing people aged 19 upwards, from entry level skills though to higher level skills. It will be crucial that this strategy informs the development of the new skills strategy.

There are strong links between EEDA’s Business Support Strategy and the East of England Skills and Competitiveness Partnership’s regional business support strategy. This strategy builds on the work EEDA has already undertaken in implementing Better for Business and Appendix 2 provides a narrative on our progress. It is acknowledged that Better for Business is a partnership document, and as such many partners will have also made progress in implementing the actions.

Diagram 1: Linkages with other strategies


RES (Delivered through East

of England Implementation Plan)

EEDA’s Corporate Plan

EEDA’s Business Support Strategy

Delivery through EEDA’s

Business

Other Focused Regional Business Support Strategies

Regional Business Support Strategy

‘Better for Business’

It’s recognised that there are many other funders and deliverers of business support, such as local authorities, enterprise agencies and also more specialist business support organisations, which provide a valued service to their local business community. EEDA will continue to work with these partners to ensure that resources are used efficiently and effectively and businesses are provided with the support they need.


2. Current regional business support offer

In a typical year EEDA invests approximately £30 million directly in regional business support services, which in 2008/09 resulted in:

5,730 jobs created or safeguarded 10,969 people helped to get a job 44,614 people with improved skills 2,283 businesses helped to start and grow 19,189 businesses assisted to improve performance 288 million leveraged in public and private investment

It is vital that the services provided are not only meeting the needs of the businesses but that the individual services delivered by a range of delivery organisations are delivered in a joined up cohesive way, so that the customer doesn’t see the wiring.

This section provides a brief overview of the EEDA regional business support offer, with the full offer explained in detail in Appendix 3.

The Business Map The Business Map is an underground tube style map designed to help businesses in the region navigate the network of business support. Each 'line' represents a different area of support or advice, from increasing sales to employing staff, maximising growth opportunities to finding the right source of finance. Each 'station' offers more details on the sources of help or advice available to a business. Business Link is at the heart of the map, as the first port of call for publically funded business support. The map has been received positively by businesses and will continue to be kept up to date.


Business LinkThe Business Link service is consistently available across all of England. It exists to encourage individuals and businesses to more effectively embrace business support and skills services, so they are better able to start, develop and grow. Business Link provides support to those considering starting a business and also to existing SMEs. Whilst principally aimed at SMEs, the Business Link service acts as the primary access channel to all publicly funded services and business information and is, in fact, a service for all.

The core Business Link service comprises three elements Information Diagnosis…action planning, leading to… … Brokerage

These are collectively known as 'IDB'. However, an important linkage that sits between Diagnosis and Brokerage is Action Planning, a practice that sets out the course of action required to achieve a chosen goal. In addition, IDB has three other principal roles:

The primary access channel for all publicly funded support services delivered under the Solutions for Business brand;

A market maker to encourage customers to make use of business support services and to adopt best business practices;

Deliverer of services to help individuals to start a business. This support is prescribed within the Solutions for Business portfolio, detailed below.

Business Link has a national website to provide an on-line information service and self diagnostic tools to allow business owners and managers to access useful guidance 24/7. The site also provides access to an extensive National and Regional events calendar covering workshops and networking opportunities.

Skills brokerage is delivered under the Business Link Brand. This is a national skills service that supports employers of all sizes and in all sectors to improve the skills of employees as a route to improving business performance. The service offers skills advice on everything from Investors in People, basic skills through to leadership and management training. The skills advice comes from an independent business adviser at Business Link working with businesses on a one-to-one basis. The advisors carry out the following activities:

o Identifying skills required to boost the performance of the business o creating a tailored package of training and support o finding reliable local colleges and other training providers o finding funding to complement the business’ investment o evaluating the training and support received to ensure real results

Start-up supportThere are a number of start-up support services delivered in the region, which are shown in Diagram 2 and detailed below:

Enterprise Coaching – A number of schemes are funded by EEDA to deliver one to one coaching to individuals in under-represented groups and in areas of deprivation, to encourage them to consider self-employment or starting a business. Where enterprise is not the right


option, the individual is supported to find alternative economic activity. For those that do start in business, they are then referred onto Business Link.

Starting a business – A universal services provided by Business Link to cover all aspects of starting a business.

Intensive Start Up – Some individuals and businesses need extra support over a longer period of time, above the Starting a Business offer. The Intensive Support is targeted at priority groups and areas, once the individual has attended a Business Link ‘starting a business’ workshop. The priority groups for this support are listed in Appendix 3.

Starting a high growth business – Business Link identify new businesses and people developing a business concept with the potential to achieve turnover of £500,000 to £1m or higher within three years of starting to trade. These businesses are provided with focused high growth support to enable them to navigate the above average lead-in time to profitability and the increased complexity of business issues they experience.

Diagram 2 Start-up support services

Access to FinanceUnderstanding Finance for Business - provides SMEs looking to secure more than £10,000 of external funding, with advice and support to identify the right type of finance for the business and maximises the chances of obtaining funding from the most appropriate source. The programme involves workshops to demystify finance and also covers more specialist subjects, such as intellectual property and venture capital. Specialist mentors provide in depth coaching and support to those businesses that require extra assistance.

Draft – October 2009

‘Enterprise Coaching’ Pre start-up

support

‘Enterprise Coaching’ Pre start-up

support

‘Starting a Business’

Universal Business Link offer

‘Starting a Business’

Universal Business Link offer

Intensive Start-up Support

Intensive Start-up Support

Starting a high growth business

Starting a high growth business

11

EEDA has put in place a range of grants and loans to help businesses set-up or grow:

Grant for Research and Development (GRAD) - helps businesses carry out research and development work that will lead to technologically innovative products or processes. There are three different types of projects that a grant can be awarded for; micro projects; research projects to investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of innovative technology; and, development projects to develop a pre-production prototype of a new product or process that involves a significant technological advance.

Proof of Market Grant - enables entrepreneurs and businesses to gain an independent view of the commercial viability of an innovative business idea by defining the market and potential customer needs. Grants of between £5 and £20k are available with an EEDA contribution of up to 75% of eligible project costs - these can include market research/assessment and investigation of intellectual property.

Grant for Business Investment (GBI) - supports businesses to make investments to set up, expand, diversify and modernise. Grants are offered to support acquisition of key assets and to support the creation of new jobs or to safe guard existing ones.

Small loans for business – loans from £500 - £50,000 for start ups, SMEs and social enterprises in the East of England. The loans are for those businesses or individuals, with a workable business plan, that have tried to obtain funding from traditional sources such as your bank or building society and been refused for whatever reason.

Finance for Business - EEDA's £5m regional loan has two elements: Growth loan - available to businesses with a turnover of typically £500k who have the

potential for long term growth with a long term investment need (up to £200k). Transition loan - available to established growth businesses with a turnover of

£1m+ that have a short term funding need (up to £150k).

Helping businesses to growInternational Trade - EEDA has developed a partnership with UKTI for the integrated delivery of three services to increase opportunities for international trade, investment and collaboration. The services are all designed to make the East of England an attractive place to locate, invest and do business, and to maximise the opportunities for businesses to trade internationally. The three core service areas are:

Maximising Foreign Direct Investment - Attracting new foreign direct investment to the East of England. Service supports all inward investment prospects, but is focused on businesses in key sectors - advanced manufacturing; life sciences; ICT; and cleantech.

Investor Development - Working with both overseas and strategically important indigenous UK owned companies located in the region on their expansion and retention opportunities. The service provides clients with information and brokerage to support programmes. It also provides a point of connection to public sector organisations that can resolve/support issues of importance to the client.


International Trade - Enabling global growth of local business by helping businesses to maximise their international trade opportunities (Trade - UKTI branded trade support services)

Public sector procurement - CompeteFor (www.competefor.com) is the on-line portal which enables businesses to engage with contract opportunities from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Support is in place, primarily through Business Link, to promote contract opportunities and support businesses access these via CompeteFor. There is also additional support for businesses to improve their profile on CompeteFor and the skills needed to engage with these contract opportunities. This support not only enhances businesses chances of gaining contract opportunities from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games but also helps them be ready for all pubic sector contract opportunities.

Information, Communication Technology support – EEDA provides support to businesses to help them make better use of technology through the takeITon project. The programme provides practical help for SMEs from workshop events, IT healthchecks carried out by specialist Business Link advisers through to grant funding for eligible SMEs to support their implementation of a transformational ICT project.

Innovation and collaborationEnterprise Hubs - A number of virtual and physical hubs exist throughout the region to bring together knowledge-based businesses to create business communities where knowledge, ideas and experience can be shared - helping businesses reach their potential.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships - a number of knowledge transfer partnerships exist to increase collaboration between universities and businesses and to encourage new graduates to stay in the region.

Innovation vouchers - designed to help businesses purchase academic expertise from the region's universities to support innovation and business improvement. The voucher entitles businesses to purchase specialist consultancy up to the value of £3,000, from academic institutions to investigate and resolve a business issue, quickly, efficiently and through a source not previously utilised.

Integrated Specialist Business Support Programme - this integrated provision covers: MAS-East – subsidised support to manufacturing SMEs (support is available to non-

SMEs chargeable at full market rate). Programme provides hands-on advice and assistance from experts in a wide range of manufacturing disciplines to improve processes, increase productivity and raise competitiveness

Designing Demand – helps businesses to use design as a key internal process to improve performance and become more competitive. Interventions help businesses to make strategic design decisions, set up design management processes and run design projects

Innovation Advice and Guidance – not restricted to manufacturers this product focuses on medium to larger SMEs. The product provides businesses with subsidised help to develop expert knowledge and specialist technical and advanced skills to enable them to innovate and improve performance.


Networking for innovation – EEDA funds a number of projects targeted at key sectors, to help businesses build relationships with other businesses, intermediaries, knowledge base institutions and government. This improves knowledge exchange and linkages between supply chains, leading to more collaborative innovative activity.

Collaborative Research and Development – Businesses in key sectors are supported to work collaboratively on developing new innovative products, processes and services.

SkillsBeyond 2010 - In addition to the skills brokerage offer delivered through Business Link, EEDA funds Beyond 2010. This project works alongside Business Link’s skills brokerage to provide SMEs with the new skills their staff need to move the business forward. A number of specialist sector advisors work closely with the business to identify the training needs and agree which training course will best meet their needs. Up to half of the cost of training is available from EEDA and the European Social Fund. Beyond 2010 also includes the Response to Redundancy programme which provides advice, guidance and re-training opportunities to individuals facing redundancy. It gives early support to certify their existing skills, and provide appropriate training to improve their opportunities in the job market when they are made redundant.

Environment and EfficiencyImproving your resource efficiency - a regional service to help businesses improve their efficiency and long-term competitiveness whilst also reducing CO2 emissions, landfill, water consumption and materials use. The programme delivers resource efficiency support ranging from simply accessing the right self help tool, to support in implementing a bespoke long term project of business change.

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) - aims to safeguard and enhance the rural environment, improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and foster sustainable and thriving rural businesses and rural economies. RDPE is intended to support those projects that can make a positive contribution to rural development. The nature of these projects will vary and thus there is a wide range of organisations, individuals and businesses that can apply for funding for their project. The Programme also covers a wide range of eligible activities ranging from those designed to produce a commercial return to the applicant to those where the primary aim is to provide a social benefit and there is no or little economic return to a private individual or business. Part of the RDPE will be allocated to a new small grant scheme for businesses, currently in development.

East of England Women’s Business Centre The region is one of four national women’s business centre pilots, designed to instil women with the confidence, skills and knowledge they need to successfully start and grow their own businesses. The East of England women’s business centre is a ‘virtual’ centre, made up of a number of projects to support women at every stage of her business journey.


3. Providing a robust business support offer in the region

The current economic climate means that businesses are facing different challenges compared to when Better for Business, the regional business support strategy was developed in 2005. The economy post recession is also likely to look very different and the Government is responding with a range of new policies. Therefore, while EEDA currently has a strong business support offer in place, the time is right to take a fresh look at what the gaps are and what needs to be done differently to meet the needs of businesses now and in the future.

EEDA will continue to deliver a business support offer that meets the needs of all businesses, whether it is new start-up with high growth potential in a key sector requiring more focused high growth support, or if it is supporting a lifestyle business set-up by an individual from an under-represented group that may require extra assistance over a longer period of time. The role of Business Link will be to filter businesses either to a lighter touch general support offer or more targeted assistance. Likewise, it will remain important to support start-ups, but also encourage and support existing businesses to grow to ensure we have a good stock of businesses in the region.

What are the gaps in current provision?The business support EEDA has in place does have some gaps in provision, identified by the Strategy Steering Group, EEDA, with partner organisations during a workshop session held in August 2009 along with other research. We also know that our services need to change to meet new demands placed on business support services form the current economic climate and new government thinking. These gaps in our offer need to be addressed in order to provide a robust business support survive to meet the needs of businesses. This chapter therefore explores the gaps and what needs to be done.

The priorities highlighted in our consultation exercise identified existing gaps as:

1. Raise awareness of the regional business support offer2. Help businesses maximise the opportunities from international trade3. Support businesses to grow and realise their full potential4. Strengthen the region’s enterprise culture5. Ensure the business support offer is accessible to all6. Provide support to large companies7. Work with our partners and service deliverers to provide an efficient and effective

business support offer for the customer8. Provide a mentoring service

Raise awareness of the regional business support offerEEDA funded business support schemes use the Regional Business Support Information System (RBSIS) to record data on the businesses they assist. This means that we have a good database of the businesses that have accessed our different business support offers.


However, here are still many businesses that are unaware of the full offer available, and while we can target those businesses in the database, the database only includes details of businesses that have already received advice, so EEDA needs to find ways to promote services to the ‘unknown’ businesses that are not on RBSIS.

EEDA already works closely with business intermediaries such as the East of England Business Group, but more could be done to tap into their networks and other business networks. Research shows that businesses often go to their accountants, banks and solicitors for services and again more could be done to make these organisations aware of the regional business support offer, so they can pass the details on to businesses.

Action: Promote services through business intermediaries, accountants, banks and solicitors

Action: Improve co-ordination of marketing with partner organisations

Action: Move towards thematic marketing, marketing a suite of products to address specific business needs

Action: Use different forms of marketing, including new types of media, to target businesses

Increasing opportunities from international tradeBusinesses can increase their performance by taking advantage of opportunities in the international economy, and in fact this is a major element of NINJ. There is a wide range of opportunities in the international economy that the East of England can compete for and access, especially as the region has easy access to world class ports and airports. As well as continued efforts to capture and retain foreign direct investment and secure new or expanded export markets, there are opportunities for using new ideas and innovations from overseas, collaborating with international partners, or deploying intangible assets internationally such as skills or intellectual property. Currently only a small percentage of enterprises in the region trade internationally and therefore more needs to be done to ensure the region’s businesses are fully exploiting these international opportunities.

Action: Business advisors from all EEDA funded business support services to be trained and made aware of international opportunities

Action: Promote international opportunities to all, including to under-represented groups and via an on-line web portal

Action: Continue our collaborative working with UKTI, including holding joint events

Support businesses to grow and realise their full potentialSome businesses have the ambition and prospects to realise high growth. These enterprises will become some of the major innovators and employers of the future. Responding to their needs, and assisting growth potential in these enterprises, will also sustain and help improve the region’s economic performance.


Managing the process of growth is complex for a business of any size, but is particularly problematic for small firms. They may need guidance in understanding regulation, the practicalities of entering a new export or product market, or developing appropriate skills. It is also important that they are provided with sector experts, who understand the nature of that particular sector. Predicting where the next growth enterprise or home-grown multi-national corporation will come from is difficult. Support for growth businesses must necessarily be responsive and enabling and able to recognise the diversity of the enterprise base.

EEDA already funds ‘Starting a High Growth Business’ to identify these businesses with growth potential and provide them with the additional support that they need. However, there is a gap in the provision of support for established businesses with high growth potential. This could be met through the deployment of the ‘Coaching for High Growth’ SfB product, which is the only product not currently being delivered in the region.

However, supporting business to grow is not only about targeting those with high-growth potential. For a small business or a one-man band to take on one extra person is a great challenge, but if every single sole-trader/micro business took on one extra person the level of unemployment in the region would drop significantly.

Action: Explore opportunities to fund and deliver High Growth Coaching business support

Action: Ensure Business Link has sector experts in the key sectors

Strengthen the region’s enterprise cultureNew enterprises contribute to job and wealth creation and help drive productivity growth and the development and adoption of new innovations. Entrepreneurship is also a vehicle for economic inclusion if it occurs within a deprived community or disadvantaged group. There is a need to create an embedded culture of entrepreneurship amongst all groups and parts of the region, which will lead to improved rates of enterprise start-ups, particularly where there is untapped potential for entrepreneurship such as amongst women, ethnic minorities, disabled people, those in deprived neighbourhoods and amongst young people.

Whilst not all business owners may want their businesses to grow and are satisfied with generating an income for themselves, others may want more for their business but might not be aware of the growth potential. More needs to be done to help raise awareness of growth potential and also nurture aspirations to grow. Business advisors could take the lead in working with SMEs to identify and exploit all their businesses potential, encouraging the owner to think of the next step in the growth of the business.

Action: All business support deliverers to help business owners identify growth potential

Action: Undertake a marketing campaign around raising aspirations to set-up and grow a business


Ensure the business support offer is accessible to allWe know that the demographics of the region are changing, with an increase in numbers of older people, increasing BME population and increasing numbers of women in employment. We also know that there are persistent disparities in rates of entrepreneurship according to ethnic background, disability, age and gender. This represents untapped potential which, once addressed, will boost the overall rate of entrepreneurship in the region.

EEDA already funds Intensive Start-up Support in recognition that some individuals and businesses need extra support over a longer period of time to start a business. The Intensive Support is targeted at priority groups and areas, once the individual has attended a Business Link ‘starting a business’ workshop. The priority groups in the East of England are:

Those located in the 20 per cent most deprived wards in England, according to the IMD2024 (used in GEM 2007)

Women BMEs and underrepresented ethnic minorities Those aged over 50 Young people at risk aged 18 to 30 Disabled people Those with work limiting illness Those with responsibilities which limit their hours of working i.e. lone parents, carers

etc Economically inactive adults facing barriers to self-employment or starting business or

business survival in formative years – i.e. barriers such as skills Adults who have faced or who are at risk of facing redundancy from economic shock

situations

However, the National Women’s Enterprise Task Force and the National Ethnic Minority Business Task Force have both separately reported their findings into the current level of business support for these under-represented groups and have found that more still needs to be done to ensure the mainstream offer is accessible to all.

It’s also important that business support is accessible to the social enterprises and the voluntary and community sector and that advisers understand the specific needs of this sector. Most organisations in this sector will have similar requirements to other businesses, however there are areas where there are different needs and the driver for the third sector is not the profit motive but the social impact that these organisations can achieve within the community.

Action: Ensure all EEDA funded business support is measuring the take-up of services by under-represented groups and acting on any low take-up of services

Action: Support the delivery of targeted regional business support strategies including the regional women’s enterprise strategy and the regional social enterprise strategy

Action: Service deliverers to achieve a customer service accreditation to test that their services are accessible to all


Action: EEDA to explore joining the RDA lead body (EMBAN) which will obtain and analyse data in support of BME business, provide advice to the RDAs and share best practice across the RDAs on BME business issues

Provide support to large companiesLarge companies across Britain have suffered through the economic downturn, and this has also been the case in the region, with a wave of redundancies and a reduction in output. This has a major knock on effect for the smaller businesses in their supply chains. Whilst large companies can already benefit from services such as skills brokerage and the Manufacturing Advisory Service and could arguably access private sector business support, the economic downturn has highlighted the need for a stronger, more coherent business support offer to large businesses so that EEDA can take a more pro-active approach to support large businesses and their supply chains.

Some large companies have moved to the region from overseas or from other parts of the UK. It is important that these large companies receive investor development services to provide them with the advice and support needed to embed them in the region. As such, Business Link is best placed to deliver this service as they are fully aware of the wide business support offer. Work will need to be undertaken to change the perception that Business Link is only focussed on SMEs.

ACTION: Develop and promote a robust business support offer for large companies

ACTION: Explore potential to develop an account management system for large companies

Work with our partners and service deliverers to provide an efficient and effective business support offer for the customerThe previous chapter has outlined all the EEDA funded business support, but of course EEDA is just one funder of business support, with Local Authorities and other partners also adding to the jigsaw of publically funded business support. While Solutions for Business will help make it easier for business to access the business support that they need, and Business Link is clearly at the centre of all publically funded business support providing IDB, it is essential for a seamless customer journey that referrals between different service providers are continued and that deliverers have an understanding of the full business support offer.

Solutions for Business offers great opportunities for local authorities to co-invest in regional business support schemes, to enhance provision in their geographical areas. However partners have said that they would find it of great benefit to be provided with more data on the support that EEDA provides to businesses in their area to help them make informed decisions on co-investment and be kept informed of service delivery in their area. The move to area working in EEDA will provide new opportunities to not only communicate the regional business support offer to partners, but also help to identify local areas needs.

The way in which business support services are measured undoubtedly impacts on the way that services are delivered and there are a number of issues around this. Emphasis is currently being placed on outputs rather than outcomes, which in turn means that delivery


partners are constantly chasing numbers. It must be recognised that RDAs do have to report to the Government on services they provide, so there will always be an aspect of needing to measure outputs, but more consideration needs to be given to outcomes and also measuring the real difference that business support has had for businesses.

Action: Continue to embed Solutions for Business within the region

Action: Hold a regular meeting for all EEDA business support providers to ensure linkages are in place and there is an understanding of the full business support offer

Action: Run a pilot to provide local authorities access to the Regional Business Support Information System

Action: Move toward more outcome based measures and those that show real difference to businesses

Action: Learn best practice from other regions and across the World and implement any lessons learned that are relevant to our region

Action: Ensure EEDA’s Business Support Strategy informs the development of the new regional skills strategy

Provide a mentoring serviceMentoring is often cited as an area of support that is missing from the existing business support EEDA provides and could be part of the Business Link service. This would be one way in which businesses could receive more intensive one-to-one support from those who have the experience required. The region has a wealth of untapped expertise that newer businesses or those seeking to grow could go to for mentoring support. This could include established businesses mentoring start-ups and the potential of mentoring of businesses by non business organisations such as Universities and Business Schools. It will be essential to ensure that mentors and mentees are matched appropriately, mentors have the skills required, and that there is a good mix of mentors from different sectors. On-line systems also offer an opportunity to provide a mentoring service across the region.

Action: Mentoring to be part of the new Business Link service, if mentoring is brought into the Solutions for Business portfolio

Action: Explore opportunities offered by on-line mentoring


4. How will we do this?

A number of actions have been identified throughout this document. These are detailed in the table below.

What is the action?

Who will deliver it?

When will this be done?

Level of priority

What difference will it make?

Which strategic priority does it deliver?

Promote services through business intermediaries, accountants, banks and solicitors

EEDA Communications Team and delivery partners

Ongoing High

cost neutral

More businesses accessing business support and assisted to improve their performance

Better for Business priority 5

RES Enterprise priority 4

Improve co-ordination of marketing with partner organisations


TBC High

Potential savings




Move towards thematic marketing, marketing a suite of products to address specific business needs


TBC Medium More businesses accessing business support and assisted to improve their performance



Use different forms of marketing, including new types of media, to target businesses


Ongoing Medium

Cost neutral




Business advisors from all EEDA funded business support services to be trained / aware of international opportunities

EEDA, UKTI and delivery partners

TBC Medium More businesses undertaking international trade


Promote international opportunities to all, including to under-represented groups and via on-line web portal

EEDA, UKTI and delivery partners

Ongoing High More businesses undertaking international trade


Continue our collaborative working with UKTI, including holding joint events

EEDA and UKTI TBC High More businesses undertaking international trade


Explore opportunities to fund and deliver High Growth Coaching business support

Business Development Team, EEDA

TBC Medium More businesses supported to improve their performance and achieve their potential



What is the action?



Level of priority



Ensure Business Link has sector experts in the key sectors

Business Link April 2010 High Businesses provided with the specialist support they need to improve their performance and achieve their potential


All business support deliverers to help business owners identify growth potential

Delivery partners

Ongoing High

Cost neutral

More businesses encouraged to grow


Undertake a marketing campaign around raising aspirations to set-up and grow a business

EEDA Communications Team

TBC Medium More businesses encouraged to start and grow


Ensure all EEDA funded business support is measuring the take-up of services by under-represented groups and acting on any low take-up of services

Delivery partners

April 2010 High Increase in take-up of business support by under-represented groups


Support the delivery of targeted regional business support strategies including the regional women’s enterprise strategy and the regional social enterprise strategy

Enterprise and Skills Directorate, EEDA

Ongoing High Increase in take-up of business support by under-represented groups


Service deliverers to achieve a customer service accreditation to test that their services are accessible to all

Delivery partners

TBC High Increase in take-up of business support by under-represented groups


EEDA to explore joining the RDA lead body (EMBAN)

Enterprise and Skills Directorate, EEDA

October 2009 Medium Increase in take-up of business support by under-represented groups


Develop and promote a robust business support offer for large companies

Business and Enterprise Team, EEDA

April 2010 High Attract and retain large companies in the region and support supply chain development


Explore potential to develop an account management system for large companies


April 2010 Medium Improved relationship with large companies


Continue to embed Solutions for Business within the region


Ongoing High Providing an effective business support service



What is the action?



Level of priority



Hold a regular meeting for all EEDA business support providers to ensure linkages are in place and there is an understanding of the full business support offer

EEDA and delivery partners

2 per year High Providing an effective business support service


Run a pilot to provide local authorities access to the Regional Business Support Information System

RBSIS Team at EEDA and local authorities

TBC Medium Shared intelligence and greater use of RBSIS

TBC

Move toward more outcome based measures and those that show real difference to businesses

TBC TBC Low TBC TBC

Learn best practice from other regions and across the World and implement any lessons learned that are relevant to our region

Business Development Team, EEDA

Ongoing Medium Providing an effective business support service


Ensure EEDA’s Business Support Strategy informs the development of the new regional skills strategy


March 2010 High

(cost neutral)

Training provision meets the needs of businesses

RES Skills for Productivity priority 4

Mentoring to be part of the new Business Link service, if mentoring is brought into the Solutions for Business portfolio

New Business Link service

April 2010 High Providing an effective business support service


Explore opportunities offered by on-line mentoring

New Business Link service

April 2010 High Providing an effective business support service



5. How do we know if we are making a difference?

We will know if we are making a difference by measuring the key performance indicators set out in our Corporate Plan, which are:

1) Jobs created or safeguarded2) People helped to get a job3) People with improved skills4) Businesses helped to start and grow5) Businesses assisted to improve performance6) Leveraged in public and private investment

EEDA’s performance against these indicators are reported in the EEDA Annual report and published on-line at www.eeda.org.uk

EEDA will also produce six monthly progress reports on the implementation of the action plan and will report progress to the new Business Support Advisory Group, a group consisting of key partners and business support deliverers.

In addition EEDA’s business support is required to provide performance data as part of the Solutions for Business Performance Measurement Framework, on a six monthly basis.


Appendix 1 – Partner engagement in developing the strategy

The following partner organisations fed into the development of the strategy. Members of the strategy steering group are identified in bold.

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration ServiceAssociation of Disabled ProfessionalsBraintree District CouncilBreckland CouncilBusiness Link EastCambridgeshire Chamber of CommerceCambridgeshire County CouncilCastle Point Borough CouncilChelmsford Borough CouncilColchester Borough CouncilEast of England Business GroupEast of England Chamber of CommerceEast of England InternationalEast of England Regional AssemblyEEFEast of England Skills and Competitiveness PartnershipEssex Chamber of CommerceFederation of Small BusinessesFenland District CouncilGO-EastHarlow CouncilHuntingdonshire District CouncilIpswich Borough CouncilLearning & Skills CouncilMAS-EastMENTERNorth Hertfordshire District CouncilNWESSocial Enterprise East of EnglandSt Edmundsbury Borough CouncilStevenage Borough CouncilSuffolk Chamber of CommerceSuffolk County CouncilThe Consultancy Home Counties Consultancy LtdUKTIWaveney District CouncilWEETUWentaWomen's Enterprise AmbassadorYTKO


Appendix 2 - EEDA’s progress in implementing Better for Business

EEDA’s delivery of the Better for Business Strategy and ongoing actions

This table outlines the work carried out by EEDA in response to the actions identified in the Better for Business Strategy. It should be noted that the Better for Business Strategy covered the work of a range of stakeholders, many of whom will have covered the actions in ways pertinent to their organisations but these will not be captured here.

Action EEDA’s response Follow on action as identified in EEDA’s Business Support Strategy Refresh 2009

Priority 1: Enhancing provision with the highest impact on SME growth

Research and develop a business case for how key high impact services might be regionally driven

Services funded by EEDA all have regionally developed approach

Working with the RDA network EEDA influenced BIS to include stimulating growth, in addition to market failure, as a rationale for public funded business support

EEDA worked with RDA network to help shape high impact support propositions in the Solutions for Business product portfolio. Products tested and approved by BIS economists on basis of rationale; effectiveness of proposed solution; and business demand

Develop partnerships with the private sector to provide cost effective, affordable and high impact ‘one to many’ business support

Six Business Links merged into one increasing delivery on the ground

Business Link East providing a responsive and flexible service to address local needs and economic shock

Short term high impact initiatives offered when appropriate for example ‘Intensive Assistance for Business’ delivered by Enterprise Agencies

Launch and widely market new high impact services to maximise their take up and viability – and evaluate their success

Train to Gain now integrated with Business Link to get better connectivity and to link into more businesses

An enhanced offer around Manufacturing Advice which now also includes Innovation Advice and Designing Demand.

Enterprising Women and Inspiring Women to address women’s entrepreneurship

Innovation Strategy Improved promotion of CompeteFor and the

opportunity for London 2012 contracts to businesses within the region

New portfolio of access to finance products developed, with a mix of loans, grants and specialist advice to support businesses develop and sustain business growth

Explore opportunities to fund and deliver High Growth Coaching business support


Priority 2: Prioritising businesses with recognised potential for productivity improvement or growth

Integrate measures to identify, proactively access and track clients with the highest growth and development potential into Business Link and other brokerage mechanisms

EEDA and Business Link are actively developing meaningful indicators to report high value/benefit interventions

Whilst the current BL business plan supports a generic ‘support for all’ service, in addition, individuals or businesses with high aspirations or growth potential are able to be identified early in the engagement process and fast tracked to the most valuable support

Business Link advisors proactively contact companies with high growth potential; however this segmentation can be enhanced through better use of 3rd party marketing data. EEDA are exploring the costs of acquiring such intelligence.

Develop local networks and access channels through which hard to reach businesses with strong potential can be engaged

Business Link East has local partnership managers who drive local solutions

Enterprise Coaching being offered through DWP funding

Inspiring Women address the needs of economically inactive women

Undertake a marketing campaign around raising aspirations to set-up and grow a business

All business support deliverers to help business owners identify growth potential

Develop a baseline assessment of which businesses are under-represented across all parts of the region

Engagement with business across sub-regional (County level) and Local Authority (District level) is recorded as a matter of normal practice by Business Link and under represented areas are applied targeted resources to address shortfalls.

Steve: Engagement with business across sub-regional (County level) and Local Authority (District level) is recorded as a matter of normal practice by Business Link. Comparison with National data sets allows areas of under and over representation to identified and resources are deployed accordingly. Work continues to identify under-represented groups and to take positive action to improve their level of interaction with Business Support.

Ensure all EEDA funded business support is measuring the take-up of services by under-represented groups and acting on any low take-up of services

Support the delivery of targeted regional business support strategies including the regional women’s enterprise strategy and the regional social enterprise strategy

Service deliverers to achieve a customer service accreditation to test that their services are accessible to all

EEDA to explore joining the RDA lead body (EMBAN)

Review all business support services to ensure that they are packaged and presented in such a way as to ensure that they appeal and are inclusive to

All EEDA funded projects are assessed on an Equality Impact basis

Business Link takes steps to repackage content to suit different client groups. Workshops are arranged at times and in locations that allow the widest possible participation

Move towards thematic marketing, marketing a suite of products to address specific business needs


all potential client groups East of England SfB transition plans review business support to ensure it is clearly identifiable, easy to understand and access and quality controlled

Use different forms of marketing, including new types of media, to target businesses

Develop the intelligence gathering role of local and sub-regional groups, to feed information about what businesses need into regional funding partners

Ongoing consultation with EEBG and the Chambers of Commerce

EEDA holds regular business summits Consultation event for the Business Support

Strategy refresh Development of regional CRM and intelligence

platform Development of ‘Mutual First’ approach across

EEDA funded programmes to ensure coherent, integration of business facing activity

Increased engagement and collaboration with local authorities

Run a pilot to provide local authorities access to the Regional Business Support Information System

Priority 3: Developing a consistent standard of support to start-ups and young businesses across the region

Develop a coordinated approach that will provide comprehensive local cover and critical mass to enable funding and support to have greatest impact on the business start-up agenda

Development of an integrated regional start up programme that partners have option to co-invest in. Programme includes a universal pre-start up support, online assistance and additional one-to-one support for disadvantaged groups or areas, plus potential high growth start ups

Start-Up workshops held across the region; to a regular timetable and with a facility to run them on demand to meet redundancy needs and other economic shocks.

Inspiring Women and DWP 6 month offer provides Enterprise Coaching to support those who have been out of the labour market to move into business creation

Development of co-ordinated suite of workshops to promote CompeteFor to businesses within the region and also enhance opportunity for contract success of businesses already engaged

Mentoring to be part of the new Business Link service, if mentoring is brought into the Solutions for Business portfolio

Strengthen cohesion of the start-up support agencies and ensure they develop adequate means to meet the increasing needs

Business Link now one regional service and therefore a comprehensive spread of services

Some EEDA funding to Enterprise Agencies is managed by Business Link ensuring a good working relationship between IDB and delivery of service.

Delivery increased to meet demand as necessary (for example workshops have increased by to meet needs which have emerged in the current economic downturn

Priority 4: Expanding the impact of brokerage by strengthening account management

Continue to build on the work done in developing the national IDB model and spread this to brokerage models and providers

Business Link actively supports a collaborative network of partners – Mutual First, who meet regularly to review and evaluate effectiveness of referrals. Membership of the group is made up of delivery partners within the business support

Hold a regular meeting for all EEDA business support providers to ensure linkages are in place and there is an


other than Business Link. The approach should include integrating customer relationship management, account management and impact management

landscape who are referring clients onto or from Business Link. Customer journeys are reviewed and improvements considered.

The use of RBSIS is promoted to effectively share intelligence and a regional marketing forum is being developed to maximise campaign targeting.

understanding of the full business support offer

Continue to support work to develop and integrate a national programme of continuous professional development (CPD) for business support brokers which enables them to advise clients consistently and equips them with knowledge of the full range of services available

All front line advisors have been through the latest SFEDI Broker training and have to pass the assessment to remain in post.

Other CPD takes place to cover a wide range of issues from Resource Efficiency to Understanding Finance.

Priority 5: Simplification of support schemes

Continue the work already underway to integrate and develop the complementary nature of business support functions to reduce duplication and customer confusion

EEDA has led regionally on the development and implementation of Solutions for Business

EEDA is on track to be SfB compliant by end of March 2010

SfB Regional Operational Group meets regularly to oversee the implementation of SfB. This group reports into EESCP Implementation Group.


Improve co-ordination of marketing with partner organisations

Provide all partners and local agencies with a set of guidelines on how to integrate required new initiatives with those of existing support agencies

EEDA has produced a ‘How to’ guide for LAs and partners on SfB

The EESCP website contains up-to-date information on SfB

EEDA has held and attended many regional and sub-regional events to support public sector funders in implementing SfB


Priority 6: Develop sub-regional and local input into future regional business support plans

Review sub-regional business support needs on a five year rolling basis

EEDA has reviewed business support needs when developing the EEDA Business Support Strategy

Feed in intelligence on an annual basis on sub-regional business support trends and needs to regional business support coordination to assist the process of defining priorities for intervention

Intelligence collected by Business Link Partnership Directors at regular Local Authority meetings will be reviewed and used to inform/shape future requirements.

The monthly reports provided by Business Link to the Regional Minister provide a strong indication of the current economic conditions in each county with many specific examples and case studies.


Create alliances between business support providers and deliverers to ensure delivery to defined priorities, and agree inter-agency operational arrangements aligned to the regional framework for mainstream business support provision

The re-procurement of various business support contracts will provide an opportunity to develop meaningful and collaborative service level agreements with service providers. In addition, shared and common business support driven performance objectives can be assigned to partners to motivate appropriate behaviours and outcomes.

EEDA’s two contractors which deliver our women’s enterprise projects meet on a 6-monthly basis along with BL and Beyond 2010 to ensure linkages and avoid duplication.

Hold a regular meeting for all EEDA business support providers to ensure linkages are in place and there is an understanding of the full business support offer


Appendix 3 - EEDA’s Business Support Offer

This section will be re-worded to be more business friendly. The idea is that this section will be a separate document sat inside the sleeve of the business support strategy. That way we can ensure it stays up-to-date and it can double up as a promotional leaflet for businesses outlining the regional business support offer that is available.

The Business Map The Business Map is an underground tube style map designed to help businesses in the region navigate the network of business support. Each 'line' represents a different area of support or advice, from increasing sales to employing staff, maximising growth opportunities to finding the right source of finance. Each 'station' offers more details on the sources of help or advice available to a business. Business Link is at the heart of the map, as the first port of call for publically funded business support. The map has been received really positively by businesses and will continue to be kept up to date.

Business LinkThe Business Link service is consistently available across all of England. It exists to encourage individuals and businesses to more effectively embrace business support and skills services, so they are better able to start, develop and grow. Business Link provides support to those considering starting a business and also to existing SMEs. Whilst principally aimed at SMEs, the Business Link service acts as the primary access channel to all publicly funded services and business information and is, in fact, a service for all.

The core Business Link service comprises three elements Information Diagnosis…action planning, leading to… … Brokerage

These are collectively known as 'IDB'. However, an important linkage that sits between Diagnosis and Brokerage is Action Planning, a practice that sets out the course of action required to achieve a chosen goal. In addition, IDB has three other principal roles:

As the primary access channel for all publicly funded support services delivered under the Solutions for Business brand;

As a market maker to encourage customers to make use of business support services and to adopt best business practices;

As deliverer of services to help individuals to start a business. This support is prescribed within the Solutions for Business portfolio, detailed below.

Business Link has a national website to provide an on-line information service and self diagnostic tools to allow business owners and managers to access useful guidance 24/7. The site also provides access to an extensive National and Regional events calendar covering workshops and networking opportunities.

Skills brokerage is delivered under the Business Link Brand. This is a national skills service that support employers of all sizes and in all sectors to improve the skills of employees as a


route to improving business performance. The service offers skills advice on everything from Investors in People, basic skills through to leadership and management training. The skills advice comes from an independent business adviser at Business Link working with businesses on a one-to-one basis. The advisors carry out the following activities:

o identify the skills that will boost the performance of the business o create a tailored package of training and support o find reliable local colleges and training providers o find funding to complement the business’ investment o evaluate the training and support received to ensure real results

Start-up supportThere are a number of EEDA funded start-up support services delivered in the region, which are:

Enterprise Coaching – Following the Enterprise Road project, EEDA tendered for two pilot projects to test out partnership based delivery models for the Enterprise Coaching product which is part of Solutions for Business. The projects use one to one coaching to help individuals who would not normally access mainstream start up support to understand the opportunities and risks of self-employment and to guide them to the most appropriate service. One of the pilots is working with MENTER to influence project delivery to engage with BME groups and individuals and ensure their needs are being met and they are accessing this support.

Starting a business – A universal service provided by Business Link to cover all aspects of starting a business.

Intensive Start Up – Some individuals and businesses need extra support over a longer period of time, above the Starting a Business offer. The Intensive Support is targeted at priority groups and areas, once the individual has attended a Business Link ‘starting a business’ workshop. The priority groups in the East of England are:

Those located in the 20 per cent most deprived wards in England, according to the IMD2024 (used in GEM 2007)

Women BMEs and underrepresented ethnic minorities Those aged over 50 Young people at risk aged 18 to 30 Disabled people Those with work limiting illness Those with responsibilities which limit their hours of working i.e. lone parents, carers

etc Economically inactive adults facing barriers to self-employment or starting business or

business survival in formative years – i.e. barriers such as skills Adults who have faced or who are at risk of facing redundancy from economic shock

situations


Starting a high growth business – Business Link identify new businesses and people developing a business concept with the potential to achieve turnover of £500,000 to £1m or higher within three years of starting to trade. These businesses are provided with focused high growth support to enable them to navigate the above average lead-in time to profitability and the increased complexity of business issues they experience.

Understanding Finance for BusinessEEDA's Understanding Finance for Business programme provides SMEs looking to secure more than £10,000 of external funding, with advice and support to identify the right type of finance for the business and maximises the chances of obtaining funding from the most appropriate source. The programme involves an initial workshop that demystifies finance, cuts through the jargon and explains the funding options available. Subsequent workshops cover more specialist subjects, such as intellectual property, grants, venture capital or pitching for finance. Specialist mentors provide in depth coaching and support to those businesses that require extra assistance.

Loans and GrantsEEDA has put in place a range of grants and loans to help businesses set-up or grow:

Grant for Research and Development (GRAD) - helps businesses carry out research and development work that will lead to technologically innovative products or processes. GRAD is a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) business support product managed by the Regional Development Agencies and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. There are three different types of research and development project that a grant can be awarded for and each requires the applicant to make their own contribution to the project costs:

o Micro projects are simple, low cost development projects lasting no longer than 12 months for businesses with fewer than 10 employees

o Research projects to investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of innovative technology and last between 6 and 18 months. A grant of up to £100k is available to businesses with less than 50 employees.

o Development projects to develop a pre-production prototype of a new product or process that involves a significant technological advance and last 6 to 36 months. A grant of up to £250k is available to businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

Proof of Market Grant - enables entrepreneurs and businesses to gain an independent view of the commercial viability of an innovative business idea by defining the market and potential customer needs. Grants of between £5 and £20k are available with an EEDA contribution of up to 75% of eligible project costs - these can include market research/assessment and investigation of intellectual property.

Grant for Business Investment (GBI) - a national scheme, managed regionally by EEDA, supporting businesses to make investments to set up, expand, diversify and modernise. Grants are offered to support acquisition of key assets; buildings, plant and machinery and to support the creation of new jobs or to safe guard existing ones. A number of priority sectors have been identified, which are; advanced manufacturing;


life sciences; energy & environment / clean technology; and, food & drink. The European Union places restrictions on the scheme for certain sectors and products (e.g. agriculture, coal, fisheries, iron and steel, tourism and synthetic fibres).

Small loans for business – loans from £500 - £50,000 for start ups, SMEs and social enterprises in the East of England. The loans are for those businesses or individuals, with a workable business plan, that have tried to obtain funding from traditional sources such as your bank or building society and been refused for whatever reason.

Regional Loan - EEDA's £5m regional loan has two elements:o Growth loan - available to businesses with a turnover of typically £500k who

have the potential for long term growth with a long term investment need (up to £200k).

o Transition loan - available to established growth businesses with a turnover of £1m+ that have a short term funding need (up to £150k).

Integrated Specialist Business Support Programme (ISBSP)The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) is now in its third term. Due to the success of the programme in delivering measurable financial returns and impact to businesses in terms of realising productivity improvements, the programme has been expanded to incorporate two additional ‘Solutions for Business’ products – ‘Designing Demand’ and ‘Innovation, Advice and Guidance’. All three products are managed by a single provider to enable businesses to become stronger during the current recession and to enable them to realise innovative growth opportunities that will be sustainable during the expected economic upturn. The integration and management of this complementary portfolio of services is the purpose and focus of the ISBSP.

The individual products: MAS-East – subsidised support to manufacturing SMEs (support is available to non-

SMEs chargeable at full market rate). Programme provides hands-on advice and assistance from experts in a wide range of manufacturing disciplines to improve processes, increase productivity and raise competitiveness

Designing Demand – for eligible businesses from micro through to 249 employees. Designing Demand helps businesses to use design as a key internal process to improve performance and become more competitive. Interventions help businesses to make strategic design decisions, set up design management processes and run design projects

Innovation Advice and Guidance – not restricted to manufacturers this product focuses on medium to larger SMEs. The product provides businesses with subsidised help to develop expert knowledge and specialist technical and advanced skills to enable them to innovate and improve performance. For example support helps remove barriers to growth by: building innovation into business strategy and planning; helping to establish an innovation culture based on process improvement; support to complete market analysis; product innovation support; and intellectual property protection and development assistance

International Business Support ProgrammeEEDA has developed a partnership with UKTI for the integrated delivery of three services to increase opportunities for international trade, investment and collaboration. The services are


all designed to make the East of England an attractive place to locate, invest and do business, and to maximise the opportunities for businesses to trade internationally.

The three core service areas are: Inward Investment - Attracting new foreign direct investment to the East of England.

Service supports all inward investment prospects, but particular targeting attention is focused on businesses in sectors that reflect the regions key sectors – namely advanced manufacturing; life sciences; ICT; and environmental/’Cleantech’

Investor Development - Working with both overseas and strategically important indigenous UK owned companies located in the region on their expansion and retention opportunities. The service provides clients with information and brokerage to support programmes. It also provides a point of connection to public sector organisations that can resolve/support issues of importance to the client. The investor development provider undertakes a crucial ‘mobiliser’ and facilitation role, acting as both an impartial business adviser and relationship manager to the client

International Trade - Enabling global growth of local business through international trade (Trade - UKTI branded trade support services)

East of England Women’s Business CentreThe East of England is one four national pilots for a regional women’s business centre, which were launched in March 2008 by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in the National Enterprise Strategy. The objectives of the women’s business centres is to instil women with the confidence, skills and knowledge they need to successfully start their own businesses and to increase their understanding of how they can grow their businesses.

The East of England women’s business centre is a ‘virtual’ centre, made up of the following projects, which link together so that the needs of women are supported at every stage of her business journey.

Inspiring Women – an enterprise coaching project designed to meet the needs of women who are at the very start of their employment journey. It focuses on economically inactive women encouraging them to think about self employment as an opportunity. The programme works at a grass roots level through a wide range of community groups and partner organisations. Free advice and training is given at local venues and at times to suit women, to help them gain the skills they need to get into employment, including how to write a CV or intensive ongoing support is given to help them establish a business.

Enterprising Women – is a vibrant and dynamic networking community providing comprehensive business support and specialist information to help women start-up and grow their businesses. The community comprises over 7,000 entrepreneurial women members and over 230 business organisations to further support members with their enterprise journey. Founded in 2006 in response to a recognised need to unlock and stimulate the economic potential of women's entrepreneurship, this nation-wide organisation offers members a host of invaluable benefits. These include:

o Business promotion opportunities, including business and personal profiles and Woman of the Week


http://www.enterprising-women.org/show.php?nav=17


o business support resources and information to help members grow their business

o networking events and training workshops o fortnightly newsletters and members’ updateso mentors database o ask the expert o Members can share information and experiences through dynamic networking

activities and virtual debates via the blog, forum, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedino Access to the £10m loan fund Enterprising Women has arranged with Lloyds

TSB Commercial.

As a dedicated, national networking community, Enterprising Women has gained industry-wide respect, winning the Prowess Best Newcomer 2009 Award, the prestigious Prowess Flagship Award in 2007and for being selected by the European Commission as one of three examples of national best practice for supporting SMEs.

Beyond 2010 - Beyond 2010 provides skills training across a range of areas and actively encourage the take up of Management and Leadership skills at levels 3 and 4. The scheme is not wholly gender specific but it requires support to be specifically aimed at women with at least 50% of beneficiaries to be women. Initially this might seem an unimpressive target, however many of the required outputs are geared at NVQ level 3 and 4 and research shows that there is considerable gender imbalance in the region in the take-up of support at these levels, with it currently heavily skewed towards male participation.

Influencing the mainstream provision - Business Link has also put in place a dedicated response for women’s enterprise, providing:

o A start-up programme of workshops which have been attracting audiences of over 50% women, compared to the national average of about 25%

o A dedicated Partnership Director for Women's Enterprise and two specialist Business Advisers and specialists in the information team who have a remit to target women via appropriate networks.

o Providing specialist content for inclusion in partner newsletters channelled to women.

Supporting Social EnterpriseBusiness Link East has two social enterprise business support specialists. Additionally to promote the Business Link East offer and as part of their function as a membership body within the sector, Social Enterprise East of England (SEEE) undertake business support workshops. The Office of the Third Sector provides funding for the accreditation of specialist social enterprise support to help drive up the quality in the provision of specialist social enterprise advisers.

Improving your resource efficiencyImproving Your Resource Efficiency is a business support programme funded by EEDA and the ERDF. The programme delivers resource efficiency support ranging from simply


http://www.linkedin.com/companies/377393/Enterprising%20Women

http://twitter.com/ewnetwork

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norwich-United-Kingdom/Enterprising-Women/33673525926

http://www.enterprising-women.org/forums/

http://enterprising-women-network.blogspot.com/






accessing the right self help tool, to support in implementing a bespoke long term project of business change. The purpose of the project is to help businesses improve their efficiency whilst also reducing CO2 emissions, landfill, water consumption and materials use. The specifics of the project are:

o Promote Business Link East as the point of contact for businesses seeking advice & guidance, thus simplifying and co-ordinating access to resource efficiency business support

o Assist Business Link East customers to identify; their own resource efficiency needs, their potential resource savings, the actions to take to achieve savings and deliver services to assist business to implement efficiency opportunities

o Signpost businesses to the most appropriate service providers to assist in the implementation and achievement of resource efficiency measures

o Provide specialist resource efficiency services and projects to deliver solutions to particular resource use issues , e.g. issues of regional strategic importance such as water

o Seek to further embed resource efficiency as a key economic considerationo Stimulate resource efficiency innovation

Networking for innovation – EEDA funds a number of projects targeted at key sectors, to help businesses build relationships with other businesses, intermediaries, knowledge base institutions and government. This improves knowledge exchange and linkages between supply chains, leading to more collaborative innovative activity.

Collaborative Research and Development – Businesses in key sectors are supported to work collaboratively on developing new innovative products, processes and services.

Innovation vouchersInnovation vouchers are designed to help businesses in the East of England purchase academic expertise from the region's universities to support innovation and business improvement. The voucher entitles businesses to purchase specialist consultancy up to the value of £3,000, from academic institutions to investigate and resolve a business issue, quickly, efficiently and through a source not previously utilised. The vouchers can be applied for at set times throughout the year.

Enterprise Hubs Extensive research from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) shows that businesses working in isolation are less likely to fulfil their potential and innovate. Bringing the region's knowledge-based businesses together in physical or virtual Enterprise Hubs helps to create businesses communities where knowledge, ideas and experience can be shared - helping businesses reach their potential. We do this by:

o Developing a network of Enterprise Hubs across the region to support the region's key knowledge-based sectors, aimed at enhancing technology and knowledge transfer.

o encouraging the development of networking groups in these key sectors and clusters: to assist small business members through technology collaboration; market information; business support; training opportunities; and supply chain information


o Supporting the development of a select number of incubators, innovation centres and science parks. These link knowledge-based businesses with higher education, research and development centres of excellence and major companies

o Encouraging knowledge transfer and ensuring the delivery of innovation support and for all knowledge-based businesses. This helps small businesses to access expertise and advice on the development of new and improved products, services and business processes.

A number of physical or virtual Enterprise Hubs have been established across key industry sectors and clusters:

Life sciences and healthcare hubs:o Babraham Bioscience Technologies (Cambridgeshire) o Colworth Park (Bedfordshire) o BioPark (Hertfordshire) o Health Enterprise East (cross-regional) o Norwich Research Park Enterprise (Norfolk) o CardioThoracic BioIncubator (Cambridgeshire)

CleanTech hubs:o Centre for Sustainable Engineering (Environment East and Peterborough) for

environmental goods and services o Building Research Establishment (Watford) for innovation in construction and the

built environment o OrbisEnergy (Lowestoft) for offshore renewables (wind, wave and tidal)

Other hubs and incubation centres:o Hethel Engineering Centre (Norwich) for advanced engineering and manufacturing. o Hertfordshire Business Incubation Centre (Stevenage) o St John's Innovation Centre (Cambridge) o East of England Production Innovation Centre (EPIC) (Norwich)o Bedford i-Lab (Bedford)o Cranfield University Business Incubation Centre (CUBIC), Bedfordshire - highly

subsidized office space for knowledge-based business start-upso Cranfield University Technology Park , Bedfordshire - units for single occupancy up

to bespoke international headquarters with business support from Cranfield University

Knowledge Transfer PartnershipsThe Knowledge Partners East of England (KEEP) is a knowledge transfer partnership that aims to increase collaboration between universities and businesses and to encourage new graduates to stay in the region. It is a three way partnership between a company, a local university and a recent graduate, whereby the expertise and skills of the university and a high-calibre graduate benefit a specific project the business in undertaking. Examples could include improving the manufacturing processes of the business or developing and implement a marketing plan for a new product. KEEP projects are short-term, usually up to six months, and are aimed specifically at small and medium sized businesses.


http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/business/commercialtenancies/

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http://www.stjohns.co.uk/

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http://www.hethelcentre.com/

http://www.orbisenergy.net/

http://www.bre.co.uk/

http://www.cseng.org.uk/

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http://www.hee.org.uk/

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http://www.colworthpark.com/en/home.aspx

http://www.babraham.com/

Information, Communication Technology support

There is clear evidence to suggest that companies who take a strategic approach to ICT and harness its full potential have an enormous amount to gain. The continued adoption and exploitation of IT, particularly advanced ICT, is estimated to generate an additional £35bn GVA across the UK economy over the next 5 to 7 years. In the case of the East of England economy this equates to £3.6bn. Case studies show that firms that have fully embraced ICT benefit from their investment in a relatively short time scale. On average, the process from procurement to full impact is as little as two years. ICT, if used to its fullest extent, can literally be transformational within firms. Better use of technology can help firms reduce their carbon footprint, offer better work-life balance to their employees and recruit from a wider, more diverse talent pool.

However small businesses have a tendency to regard IT as something which is time consuming and ‘difficult’. takeITon provides practical help for SMEs (typically those between 10 and 250) from workshop events, IT healthchecks carried out by specialist Business Link advisers through to: grant funding for eligible SMEs to support their implementation of a transformational ICT project.

Public sector procurementCompeteFor (www.competefor.com) is the on-line portal which enables businesses to engage with contract opportunities from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. CompeteFor is central to the engagement of businesses within the region and is funded by EEDA and the other regional development agencies.

It is estimated that there will be over 75,000 contract opportunities from London2012 and the target is for businesses within the region to win between 5 – 10% of those contracts. There is a significant level of business support, primarily through Business Link, within the region, which will firstly promote contract opportunities and how to access these opportunities via CompeteFor. There is also additional support for businesses to improve their profile on CompeteFor and also the skills needed to engage with these contract opportunities. This will enhance the likelihood of success and also improve a businesses capacity beyond 2012.

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)The RDPE aims to safeguard and enhance the rural environment, improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and foster sustainable and thriving rural businesses and rural economies. RDPE is intended to support those projects that can make a positive contribution to rural development. The nature of these projects will vary and thus there is a wide range of organisations, individuals and businesses that can apply for funding for their project. The Programme also covers a wide range of eligible activities ranging from those designed to produce a commercial return to the applicant to those where the primary aim is to provide a social benefit and there is no or little economic return to a private individual or business. Part of the RDPE will be allocated to a new small grant scheme for businesses, currently in development.


draft business support strategy 2009-13.doc

Documents

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business evidence

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business clients

robust business support

support eeda

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