Fast growing economies, regions and cities tend to be shaped by successful businesses, sectors and clusters. Thriving economies are characterised by high rates of business start-ups, good survival performance and growth, often underpinned by a transition from low to high value added production.
Key factors in explaining differences in business performance are an entrepreneurial culture, conducive factor markets and the availability of a supporting infrastructure, hard and soft, favourable to business development and retention. An important factor can be the existence of centres of learning and research as a source of spin-outs and inward investment.
Initiatives to enhance business competitiveness are a crucial element in regional development and regeneration strategies. SQW has a long-established track record in assisting clients to support the development and growth of the business sector in general and small and medium sized enterprises in particular.
Our business development experience includes:
- policy development for start-up and business growth;
- development of institutional capabilities;
- design and delivery of training programmes;
- initiatives to improve productivity; sites and premises, skills, knowledge and finance;
- sector studies;
- SME finance issues and instruments;
- review and evaluation of business development initiatives.
Examples of SQW Consulting projects
The feasibility of establishing a national Higher Education Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Foundation
SQW was commissioned by BERR to undertake research to confirm whether or not a need exists for a national Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Foundation, primarily focusing on embedding and supporting enterprise in Higher Education, and if so to set out a practical strategy for setting up the institution and the operating model to secure its long term operation. The study’s recommendations informed the Government’s new Enterprise Strategy, launched in March 2008 and led to both regional and institutionally-focused models being established to test the concept further.
Evaluation of the Southwark Council’s Enterprise Programmes
SQW was commissioned by Southwark Council’s Economic Development Team to review and evaluate their portfolio of enterprise projects funded by the Council under a variety of funding streams, including the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. The nine projects shared a focus on disadvantaged communities, and were in some cases specifically targeted at particular interest groups, including the BME community, young people and women, and the inhabitants of particular estates within the borough. The results of the evaluation provided evidence on which Southwark Council’s funding decisions to support enterprise were based.
Access to Growth Finance
emda commissioned SQW, together with Oxford Innovation, to look into the availability of growth finance for innovative, growing businesses in the East Midlands. The purpose was to identify any deficiencies in the funding provision or the mechanisms through which businesses are made aware and are assisted in accessing such funding, and to suggest any possible interventions that emda could put in place to address those deficiencies. As a result of the research, emda has refined their finance escalator.
Research on Third Sector Access to Finance
SQW was commissioned to undertake qualitative research into ‘Third Sector Access to Finance’ for the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) within the Cabinet Office. This research fed into policy developments within the OTS and the Comprehensive Spending Review, in relation to the future role of the third sector in economic and social regeneration. The research explored a number of areas around the current and potential future demand for finance by third sector organisations (social enterprise, voluntary and community groups and charities, mutuals and cooperatives) including: the current understanding and use of different forms of finance; the (non-financial) support available with the finance and its importance; an assessment of the latent demand finance for future development activity and relevant types of finance to support this, and an understanding of how organisations’ demand for finance may change over time and as they evolve.
Evaluation of UP for Enterprise – embedding enterprise into the school curriculum
SQW carried out an evaluation of the University of Portsmouth’s UP for Enterprise pilot, run with 50 schools in the South East region, designed to embed enterprise in the school curriculum. The programme consisted of the development of enterprise materials and a website, design and delivery of a CPD module contributing to a Masters Programme at the University, and delivery of a series of INSET sessions in the schools. SQW observed the delivery, input learning as the pilot progressed, and carried out an assessment of strengths, weaknesses and impacts at the end of the pilot, and made recommendations to SEEDA, who commissioned the study, for future roll out.
Preparing an Evaluation Plan for the East Midland’s Business Link Service
SQW was commissioned by emda to produce a range of costed options for an evaluation framework for Business Link East Midlands (BL EM). The work involved setting out the rationale and objectives for BL EM, amassing baseline performance data against which progress could be judged, identifying key performance indicators and the data sources to monitor them, reviewing the proposed monitoring arrangements and recommending an evaluation methodology.