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The current economic recession poses major challenges for businesses in the UK. Demand for products and services is down, while banks’ ability (or perhaps it is willingness) to provide financing has also declined. The government has responded with a number of measures intended to ease the situation. They have asked banks receiving government support to be prepared to lend to SMEs at the same level as in 2007. The government itself is offering extra support for investment in skills through Train to Gain, and Business Links will be offering free ‘health checks’ for all businesses on demand. The government has also promised that it will pay all of its bills within 10 days, to ease the pressure on company cashflows.

All of these are likely to help the situation for companies – though whether they will be enough is clearly something that only time will tell. The concern is that some companies will not survive through the recession, while those that do survive will have made sacrifices that could affect their long term performance.

There are two issues here: the strength of UK companies relative to competitors abroad, and the innovative capacity of UK companies. Even if the former is not damaged (because any problems in the UK are matched by problems in other countries), problems with the latter will tend to reduce future growth rates for the economy.

If you would like to know more about how we can help you to promote enterprise in your company, sector, locality or region, contact Matthew Terry (contact details on the right).

Birmingham City Council – Evaluation of Business Support Projects

Consulting Inplace was commissioned by Birmingham City Council to carry out an evaluation of three business support projects being delivered in the Aston Pride NDC area of the City. The evaluation was given an extra dimension due to the timing of the commission - the research was conducted during the height of the recent recession and at a time when the NDC’s core funding is coming to an end. The main focus of the evaluation was to understand the impact of the three projects on local businesses and entrepreneurs.

The three projects evaluated were:

• Inspire to Grow – a project to develop the growth potential of local businesses through providing advice and small capital grants
• Enterprise with Pride – a project to support residents who wanted to set up their own business or social enterprise
• Business Employment Project – a capital project to stimulate growth through providing grants to support the improvement/expansion of commercial premises and/or for security improvements to commercial premises

To address the requirements of this study, we developed a methodology based on the logic-chain model. This involved an assessment of the rationale, inputs, resources, outputs and outcomes of the three projects. In carrying out this evaluation we also employed a number of innovative methods. For example, when visiting the Business Employment Project beneficiaries, we went with an interpreter who was from a BME background and had previous run a small business. This had a very positive impact on the interview process, helping us both to ‘break the ice’ with local business owners and in providing support where language barriers existed.

Through the research we conducted we were able to help our client understand the impacts that these projects had had on the NDC area. For example, we were able to provide evidence of the transformational impact of the grants disbursed. 

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South West of England RDA – Economic Impact Review: Business Support

South West of England RDA commissioned us to undertake an Economic Impact Review of business support projects funded by the agency between 2002 and 2007 in order to obtain a robust evaluation of the value added and value for money of its interventions, which subsequently fed into a national review of the RDAs on behalf of BERR.

The project entailed evaluations of a sample of 20 projects ranging from small local business start-up initiatives to a £5 million technology transfer programme. We devised a methodology for the selection of sample projects, reviewed financial and management information, interviewed key stakeholders and surveyed over 500 beneficiaries. The resulting data was analysed using the Impact Evaluation Framework (IEF) in order to provide robust estimates of the impact of SWRDA-funded business support on employment, productivity and business formation.

A key challenge was the need to locate and acquire beneficiary contact details, in some cases many years after the support took place. A great deal of judgement was used in ensuring that the grossing-up of results from the achieved sample results in a robust assessment of the impact of the overall package of SWRDA business support.. A thorough and clearly-documented process of selecting the sample of projects and a professional approach to contacting delivery agencies and beneficiaries (using our own in-house Market Research team) was very successful in ensuring that a complex project met the demanding requirements of South West RDA and BERR.

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ONE Northeast - Business Link Evaluation

Following the management of Business Links being transferred to RDAs, One North East commissioned us to undertake the longitudinal IEF-compliant evaluation of the new Business Link service (Business and Enterprise North East), which has been in operation since April 2007. ONE wanted us to review how the new service was performing in order to assess the value for money and impact of the IDB model on Business Link customers, assess BENE achievements against planed aims and objectives and RES priorities. ONE also wanted to use our suggested evaluation approach as a tool for learning lessons in order to maximise the quality and effectiveness of the Business Link offer and also benchmark BENE with other regions and delivery models.

The first phase of the evaluation reviewed the impact of the service since April 2007. The objective of this phase was to set a baseline position, with a view to making comparisons later on in the evaluation timeframe. The methodology involved desk research, stakeholder interviews and around 400 telephone interviews with beneficiaries, including pre-starts, post starts and existing businesses.

The design and use of the evaluation framework and key research tools (such as IEF-compliant primary research questionnaires) has added value to the collection of robust evidence to evaluate the impact An added challenge that was addressed successfully was to collate and categorise quite a varied range of stakeholder views into a robust framework that followed IEF principles.

The next phase of the evaluation in 2009 will review the IDB model in more depth, particularly in terms of how it supports, engages with, effectively diagnoses and brokers the appropriate support to different types of client, including those in disadvantaged or remote areas, start ups and established businesses. It will also review areas such as the efficacy of the IDB model to diagnose and broker in specialist areas, such as innovation or sector-specific support.

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Advantage West Midlands - Review of Post Start-up Business Support Provision

We were commissioned by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) to undertake research into post start-up support across the region, identifying which types of intervention have been successful in sustaining the growth of young businesses. The study was initiated with a scoping study of all programmes and initiatives across the region focussed on supporting post start-up businesses.

Stakeholder consultation with those closely involved in the business support arena provided insight into the needs of the region’s new businesses and the stages where intervention can be most critical. Consultation with a small sample of businesses highlighted the key barriers to survival and growth facing post start-up businesses, and the support they needed to overcome these.

The final report highlighted some of the key barriers to growth for post start-up businesses and also the methods of interaction and types of business support with which they engage.  The report recommended potential models for support delivery for the Enterprise Board to consider as they looked to develop and shape their business support programmes going forward.

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South West England RDA - Inward Investment Programme Evaluation

The majority of England’s regional development agencies invest in overseas offices – targeting key companies in priority sectors– and working alongside UK based colleagues in aftercare and sector development activities with UK firms. Whilst we suspect that these investments have delivered for the respective regions – many evaluators have largely failed to really get to grips with what exactly has been achieved, due to the methodological difficulties involved.   

We are currently conducting a wide ranging evaluation of this activity in the South West, for the RDA and UK Trade and Investments (UKT&I). Foreign owned companies play an important role in regional economies. Since 2004, the number of foreign owned firms in the South West has been growing strongly. Their productivity and employment growth is well above the average for domestically owned firms, in cases outstripping national rates of growth. They typically pay higher wages, and the evidence suggests that they make an important contribution to regional supply chain development, including innovation and market exploitation. In addition, the South West RDA, UKT&I and Business Link have worked with hundreds of South West Businesses, in trade promotion activities, to help them access new markets overseas.

What economic impact has the South West RDA generated in the region through these investments since 2004? How do they work alongside UK Trade and Investments (UKT&I) overseas and other partners in the Sub-region? Moving forward, how can the RDA track, manage and record their actives in a way that is efficient and transparent? How can they maximise their resources and what has their delivery approach done for companies through the recession. Using the new IEF+ guidance, we are currently working on this challenging study. We will report in soon – watch this space.