Agenda item

Director: Brian Archer. Author: Henry Rigg

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Services which provided an update on the delivery of the Enterprise West Yorkshire Programme.

The Chair introduced the report. He outlined that the purpose of the report was to update the Committee on progress with the delivery of the Enterprise West Yorkshire (WY) programme and to seek further input, advice and guidance from the Committee on the ongoing development and delivery of enterprise support across West Yorkshire. He then asked the Director of Economic Services to present the report.

The Director of Economic Services explained that:

·       The £6 million pound Enterprise West Yorkshire programme has been in delivery since late 2021.

·       The programme includes activity to promote enterprise as a viable and achievable career option to all, especially young people wishing to become involved in this sector.

·       The programme is closely aligned to other enterprise support currently available in the region, such as the ADVenture high growth start-up programme, the Start-Up loans available from the Business Enterprise Fund and the information and guidance provided by West Yorkshire’s commercial libraries, known as Business in the Community (BITC).

·       He provided further details on the number of people and enterprises engaged and support to date by the programme, which are available in the paper.

·       The digital marketing campaign for the Exploring Enterprise element of the programme has been running from January 2022. This programme has been developed around role models to demonstrate that ‘real people’ across West Yorkshire are creating and running successful businesses within this sector. This has included hosting a number of workshops and a new web platform to help engage a more diverse range of clients, such as those with disabilities and those living in some of West Yorkshire’s more disadvantaged areas.

·       A key component of this has been the establishment of a Women’s Enterprise Network as a peer support mechanism for female-led pre-start and start-up firms.

·       Five district-based Start-Up Managers are all now in post and are providing account-management support to start-up and early-stage firms across all sectors. Three of these are females and one is from an ethnic minority background, which is intended to help enable the implementation of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) activities under the programme. These include targets to engage a significant number of clients with protected characteristics.

The inaugural meeting of the Enterprise Support Forum will take place on 2 November 2022 which will be an opportunity to showcase all the support available to new enterprises in the region.

Furthermore, the contract for delivery of the Innovate Entrepreneurs element of the programme has been recently agreed. This £1.2 million scheme will be delivered by a consortium led by Nexus Ltd and the University of Leeds, with support from a wide range of partners across the university, third and private sectors. The purpose of the scheme is to work with a smaller number of entrepreneurs who can demonstrate the ambition and potential to achieve considerable business growth, while delivering wider social and/or environmental impacts for the region.

This is because all enterprises supported by the programme are encouraged to access advice and guidance from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s REBiz programme that assists firms to reduce energy use and energy costs.

Officers are also currently exploring options to establish a Seedcorn Fund that could provide early-stage finance (grant, loan or equity) to entrepreneurs to help de-risk their ventures and to provide them with some security to test-market, develop and refine their business propositions.

Members of the Committee collectively welcomed the contribution of the Investments Partnerships Programme and the aligned investment that is provided along with this.

Resolved:

      i.         That the Committee noted the progress of the delivery of the Enterprise West Yorkshire (WY) programme, and;

     ii.         The Committee provided further input, advice, and guidance on the ongoing development and delivery of enterprise support across West Yorkshire.