The Demise of Enterprise…UK

Without apology I copy below a blog post from George Derbyshire of the NFEA - a thoughtful and questioning article on the demise of Enterprise UK.

I read about the forthcoming closure of Enterprise UK with some sadness. I, and NFEA, have been involved since its earliest days, when three or four people camped out in space borrowed from the CBI in Centrepoint. Indeed NFEA director Sally Agass acted as interim Chief Executive on one occasion.

The organisation has some energetic and creative people and they can be proud of their achievements. Enterprise Week has certainly been worthwhile, as has Enterprising Britain (in which Enterprise Furness and NWES distinguished themselves.) I wish them all well in the future.

But of course Enterprise UK fell into the trap we advise all our clients about - it was over dependent on one source of funding. It only had one client and once that tap was turned off, it had nowhere to go. And the business organisations who make up its Board can’t be expected to take up the slack.

Indeed it could be regarded simply as an outsourced part of the operations of BIS.

I simply don’t understand why the previous Government felt it right to set up new organisations to carry out its wishes everytime it had a bright idea. All it did was create new bodies which inevitably had their own overheads and administrative burdens to carry, had no long term sustainability and which ran the risk of getting in the way of existing and more established organisations.

It would have been better all round to tap into the expertise of those of us who were already active on the ground, who had the experience, stability and dare I say low overheads to deliver the goods. This way the Government would have achieved its objectives and even strengthened the existing infrastructure.

But there is a wider point to be made. This is simply one example of the way the enterprise structure is being dismantled. The RDAs and BusinessLink are in wind-down mode and every week we are hearing about more closed programmes and business advisers being declared redundant. Third sector, voluntary and social enterprise providers - and enterprise agencies are just one part of a wide and deep network of providers - are not immune from this. The shockwaves are spreading widely across the business support pond.

The irony is that these independent organisations make up the Big Society that Mr Cameron is urging upon us - dedicated people, mission-driven, locally-based, quick on their feet and committed to their local communities. At a time when the state of the economy is causing renewed concerns, when unemployment is trending upwards and public sector job losses are being declared daily the need for a vigorous enterprise sector is, I’d have thought, obvious. We can help start new businesses, we can keep people away from unemployment, we can help others to move away from benefits and we can help businesses grow. But that needs a effective and comprehensive business support strategy. Wasn’t it a famous Conservative prime minister who growled “Give us the tools and we will finish the job!”?

Head up not Head down

I recently attended the NFEA and PROWESS conferences which were held back to back in Nottingham. This is possibly the major event for our industry and sees an interesting programme of speakers with the chance to talk to other leading lights from the industry.

What continually amazes me is the fact that many agencies fail to attend. According to sources at the NFEA the excuses are varied and innovative! However a common theme of "I have not got the time" or "we cannot afford it" crop up all the time. I cannot understand this mindset. I am afraid that these are the very people who need to attend such events as they are clearly struggling in their individual businesses.

Whilst I am sure that it will not add to my popularity rating I feel that I must berate these people who are doing untold harm to the movement. The conferences are heavily subsidised and the costs of attending are minimal so the cost argument falls down straight away. The dates are well publicised in advance and so diary commitments should be minimal and thus the question of time management can only come down to disorganised CEOs.

It is no coincidence that the most successful agencies are perennial attendees at the conference. They have the wisdom & foresight to understand that expanding your network of contacts, learning new things, discussing plans with people in similar situations and gaining a greater understanding of the events dictating future government strategy far outweigh a £200 cost or day out of the office.

So what can be done to help these "Ostriches" take their heads out from the sand? Perhaps it needs a larger agency to "adopt" a smaller one and provide a bursary to enable the CEO to attend. A more proactive stance amongst regional members to exert some moral persuasion would help as would a personal contact from the NFEA CEO to every agency who has not attended. If we wish to be seen to be helping all then we need to be proactive and not just rely upon the dwindling number of forward thinking agencies.

I am a passionate advocate of learning, swapping good practice and networking to improve NWES and our growth and reach is testament to that success. Perhaps now is the time to hold to account those Chairmen of agencies which are under performing - shape up or ship out? Radical perhaps but difficult times call for radical solutions. We need to be relevant for 2010 and beyond and not living back in the 1980s.

So strike out a couple of days in the diary for September 2011 and take some time out to work on the business instead of working in the business - that's what a good CEO does.

So was the NFEA conference worth it?

Without doubt! As always we were treated to an excellent conference, well organised, a good variety of speakers and relevant to the times. It was clear that there were fewer members than last year but those that did attend got more from the time invested, were from the leading agencies in the country and are those likely to survive the turbulent times ahead.

So what stood out? The theme of social ethos and commercial focus was a thread linking all of the elements and was best exemplified by Josephine Fairley founder of Green and Blacks. She was always going to get a great response by giving a bar of chocolate to every delegate beforehand! If anyone wants to know what happened to any uneaten bars ask Emma Chapman! Jo had a great story to tell from the germ of an idea to an exit strategy and the "adoption" of her business by Cadbury. The commercial reality was never far from the surface but this is a business with a social ethos underpinning everything that they did from sourcing to wrapping.

Whilst as always at NWES we are politically neutral the contrast between the two MP speakers at the conference was so marked as to be embarrassing. On day one we heard from Lorely Burt the Liberal spokesman and the general consensus was that she was somewhat out of her comfort zone, had only a fleeting knowledge of her brief, rambled on about a range of unrelated subjects and left everyone no clearer about her party policy on small business. When the party has a respected "hard hitter" such as Vince Cable it is all the more surprising that a "lightweight" was paraded before us. If you are going to speak at an event take the time to understand the audience, be focused and tell the listening delegates something new. I hope that Lorely matures into her brief because as one delegate said to me straight afterwards "god help us all if she ever wields any power"!

On day two we had Mark Prisk the Conservative Shadow. I am not exaggerating when I say that here was the best conference speech that we have ever had from a politician - certainly in my 12 years. Mark is obviously very at home with his portfolio, had taken the time to research the listening audience and gave us all something new. Not everything will have gone down well but we heard an honest appraisal of what can and cannot be done, how it will influence enterprise agencies and what we can expect from an incoming Conservative government. Irrespective of political leanings the audience seemed all in agreement that here was someone that we can do business with.

For the first time in many years I had no responsibility to worry about and it was somewhat liberating which made this one of the most enjoyable conferences ever. The team who attended with me all came back with several actions to put into place and a much better understanding of the industry and where NWES is placed (at the top obviously!). On this showing the NFEA conference has a lot more life in it yet and the non attendees are in danger of falling even further behind the pack. Book now for next year!

A hive of ACTivity?

I was intrigued to read about the latest initiative from the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) - ACT a network for enterprise support individuals. Drawing from their website ACT is "Especially developed for individuals working within the enterprise sector....... a unique network for like-minded professionals who offer services such as advice, coaching, mentoring and training to those starting and running small businesses".

It is certainly an interesting development from the NFEA which is aiming at the individual rather than the organisation, which it has traditionally represented. I do believe that there is a gap in the market for such a venture. I was an outspoken critic of much of what the old "Institute of Business Advisors" provided but without doubt there was a role there which needed to be filled. From my perspective since the merger of the IBA with the Chartered Management Institute the needs of the sector have taken a back seat.

Anecdotal evidence would suggest that there is some dissatisfaction amongst previous IBA members so perhaps the NFEA has stumbled across a real opportunity. However there is a danger that they are entering a crowded marketplace without the resources to achieve market share.

Again according to the NFEA website - "ACT members will be able to benefit from a full programme of dedicated activities including training events, CPD, locally-based networking as well as an annual conference." Using its organisational member base the NFEA has access to many hundreds of business advisors and so if this is exploited well there is a potential for real momentum.

I have previously expressed my frustration at the lack of bespoke support for my trainers and advisors (c30 at NWES alone) and so if the NFEA can produce a compelling programme of events we will certainly participate. So what would I like to see? I do not want a repeat of what is already out there so relevance is of prime concern. Regular bulletins are of use as would be some form of formal induction for people new to the profession. Local networking is always welcome but again it needs to be appropriate. High quality speakers that can enthuse and impart knowledge are vital at any event. Most importantly I would like to see the standards in the industry raised with some nationally recognised and policed qualifications.

With the advent of BSSP some industry focus is welcome and so we will be at the inaugural conference in Nottingham on 28 April. Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of a major new force in the industry. Sign up for the conference and you will find out!

www.nfea.com

New Entrepreneur Scholarships

A subject which I have been meaning to touch upon for a while is that of the New Entrepreneur Scholarship Fund (NES). This programme has run for the last 5/6 years and has been funded by the Learning and Skills Council. Run by the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) in partnership with the Princes Trust and Association of Business Schools it has been one of the most successful programmes that I have had the pleasure of being involved in.

In brief, individuals from the most disadvantaged areas of the country go through a programme of training and 1-1 support combined with a £1500 bursary to help them start in business. They even have the opportunity to gain an NVQ 2 or 3 qualification. The figures are impressive:

- 75% of participants start up in business
- 86% are still trading after 3 years and 76% after 5 years
- the majority were unemployed or economically inactive when starting the scheme
- over 5000 businesses started
- all this for a unit cost of £6500.

Unfortunately this programme has now ceased due to lack of funding - and it was only £5/6m per annum. In a time when jobs are being cut, self employment is an increasingly attractive option and of course it has the added benefit of creating even more jobs via business growth. The logic of stopping this in the teeth of the worst recession for a generation seems madness when we are spending billions on untried and intangible new projects.

Let us hope that there is someone with a modicum of sanity at BERR, government or in the Conservative party who will champion the return and indeed expansion of this scheme at a time when the country desperately needs it. "Tried and tested" is a sensible policy to have when all around are experimenting and mortgaging our future. Just think what £50m a year could do to regenerate struggling areas. Then again who said logic ever enters any political decisions!

What is the direction for Enterprise Agencies?

As we start a new year - which may be the most difficult in memory - how do Enterprise Agencies ensure that they survive and help our target market? Just before Christmas I heard from three different agencies that are either closing their doors for good or close to doing so. This is very sad news indeed and should be a wake up call for many of us - as if we should need it! In speaking to some of the individuals concerned I asked how they had come to this point. In each case they had predicted such a scenario up to 12 months earlier but had held on in the hope that “something would turn up”. I am afraid that I find this mindset very difficult to understand.

We would never advise clients to cling to forlorn hope or divine intervention and yet this is what several agencies are doing themselves. In the life cycle of every business there are downs as well as ups and it is how we cope with these that differentiates leaders from managers. I am returning to a subject that I have raised before but it amazes me how many agencies seem happier to close down rather than merge with neighbours or seek a “hub and spoke” type of arrangement to reduce operating costs.

Whilst some agencies are facing difficult times I am encouraged by how many are going from strength to strength and diversifying activity and income streams. Taking a football analogy – and don’t forget that I support Norwich City – agencies could perhaps be categorised as Premier League teams, Championship aspirants and Conference amateurs. This is not meant as any disrespect to agencies or individuals or that “Big is good, small is not” statement, merely an honest appraisal of where we are now.

It is incumbent on each of us – executive and Boards - to seek partnerships, explore joint working or merge rather than preside over decline. We have a proud history and I believe a glorious future but it needs people with vision, strategic direction and passion to deliver this. So are you an Arsene Wenger, Glen Roeder or a Mike Bassett? Have you built a strong team to propel you up the league or do you manage a group of overpaid, fading stars?!

One of the most pleasing things about being part of the NFEA is that there is so much mutual support, advice and assistance available when you need it; so my plea is that if the future is looking uncertain then speak to sister agencies or the NFEA at an early stage. The need for our services now is as strong as ever before so let’s ensure that we are fit for whatever challenges come our way.