SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Fostering a spirit of enterprise is a key role for Enterprise4All. We are therefore playing an active role within the region, working with local authorities, business support organisations and other stakeholders to encourage entrepreneurship, to identify new opportunities for business start-ups and to promote best practice in supporting under represented groups.

The following are some examples of some important initiatives in which we have been involved.

NWDA Masterclass in Support for BME Enterpreneurs
In May 2009, Enterprise4All organised a major conference in Preston which looked at best practice in supporting enterpreneurs from black and minority ethnic communities. The event was supported by Business Link North West and the Ethnic Minority Business Forum (EMBF NW), and funded by the North West Development Agency.

BME-led ventures now add £40 billion to the national economy each year and represent a full 10% of the country’s small and medium sized businesses.

A panel of experts spoke of the need to recognise cultural diversity as an asset to the North West regional economy and emphasised the importance of supporting grass roots enterprise, which Professor Monder Ram, Head of Centre for Ethnic Minority Enterprise (CRÈME) at De Montfort University, Leicester described as a ‘ladder of opportunity’ for many people living within minority ethnic communities.

After the presentations, around 80 delegates took part in discussions about possible ways of improving the support services that are available to BME businesses. The results were fed back to NWDA and Business Link facilitators and it is hoped that the findings will inform future business support policy.

NWDA Innovations Report (North West Business Start Up)
The Northwest Development Agency's Innovations Report examined examples of best practice and positive developments that had arisen during the course of the North West Business Start Up programme. In the document, it cited E4All's work promoting skills development and in particular, the company's work alongside Elevate - a government run programme offering training and employment opportunities in the construction sector.

The report focused on E4All's efforts to engage with under represented groups such as people from minority ethnic communities and explained how this enabled local people to participate in and benefit from the redevelopment of the county.

“With this innovation, we were able to help equip the local community with skills that the area needed to regenerate itself,” said E4All Chief Executive Ilyas Munshi. “Local councils benefited because they needed more local people with skills, particularly from the BME groups. Furthermore, the individuals benefited because they were being referred to a training programme they knew nothing about. This programme gave them skills to become self employed in a profession for which there is a real commercial demand.”