EJFW/S5/18BS/16

ECONOMY, JOBS AND FAIR WORK COMMITTEE BUSINESS SUPPORT INQUIRY SUBMISSION FROM East Council

National and Local Context

Business Gateway (BG) is a publicly-funded local government service that provides free business support, seminars, workshops and impartial advice for start-up and existing businesses in . Local Authorities (LA’s) are responsible for the delivery of the Business Gateway (BG) service in local areas - 18 Lead Local Authorities (LLAs) co-ordinate local contacts/service delivery on behalf of the local authorities in their respective BG Region.

In and Lothian the Lead Local Authority is the City of Edinburgh Council with , and Councils being the other LA’s.

Edinburgh and Lothian is the number one performing area in Scotland for delivery of the Business Gateway services with 1,800 individuals assisted to start up each year. East Lothian Business Gateway in 2017/18 achieved their highest number on record with 210 start ups and has a higher number of self employed with 11.2% of the economically active compared to the 8.5% the Scottish average.

East Lothian business base has a business count of 3,135 (NOMIS) and is dominated by small and-medium-sized enterprises (SME’s), with 89% employing fewer than 9 employees, 9.7% employing between 10 and 49 employees, 1.1% employing between 50 and 249 and 0.3% employing more than 250 employees.

Main sectors in East Lothian are tourism, wholesale/retail trade, manufacturing, food and drink, education and professional activities. (Nomis 2017)

Based in COSLA, the Business Gateway National Unit (BGNU) supports the Lead Local Authorities (LLA) who manage the service and provider teams who deliver the service. The National Unit is responsible for a wide range of activity that includes marketing and operational support, and works closely with the partners and stakeholders involved with the service. The BGNU also provides and manages a range of national systems used to deliver the service, including the www.bgateway.com website.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise (SE) is a strategic partner with responsibility for resourcing some of the core service infrastructure used by Business Gateway including a customer relationship management system, shared with Scottish Enterprise, and the Business Gateway Enquiry Service for national enquiry fulfilment and research services. SE also provides a range of universal and specialist products which BG clients can access. Similarly, BG works in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

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Response to Inquiry Questions

1) Levels of annual spending on Business Gateway over the last ten years

As part of the Edinburgh and Lothian Business Gateway contract, East Lothian is awarded £148,000 annually to deliver the service. Please note that and are the only two local authorities that have delivered a start up/business growth service since its inception in the mid 1990’s through a tendered contract with Scottish Enterprise.

In 2008 the Business Gateway service was transferred from Scottish Enterprise to Local Government to manage and deliver.

2) Details of mechanisms in place to determine quality assurance

Quality Assurance of the Business Gateway service at a national level is undertaken independently by Progressive Partnership who have been conducting Business Gateway’s ongoing customer satisfaction tracking survey since mid- November 2014. Respondents to this survey have all made and had contact with Business Gateway (BG). Survey invitations are sent on a weekly basis, two weeks after the customer’s initial contact with BG (a sample is taken directly from the CRM system).

Dashboard reports provide summary data for each month of the survey for agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The National Unit and the Lead Local Authorities monitor these dashboards.

In addition, East Lothian Council undertakes its own aftercare and monitoring of start-ups and growth including survivability, jobs created, turnover and profitability and which is reported quarterly through the Council’s performance management system.

3) Details of any customer feedback received in relation to the Business Gateway services that you offer or wider research about business support in your area;

East Lothian Council is one of the few LA’s that undertakes a business base survey on a regular bi-annual basis and this provides feedback on the service offering from Economic Development including the Business Gateway. Overall satisfaction for 2015 and 2017 surveys were :-

2015 Overall Satisfaction Business Gateway = 98%

2017 Overall Satisfaction Business Gateway = 95%

These figures compare favourably with the national average noted for the quarter, January and March 2018, at 83% as obtained by Progressive. (For enquiries made during January to March 2018, a total of 933 customers responded to the survey (372 in January, 312 in February and 249 in March). The overall response rate for

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the quarter was 10.6%. This response level gives a confidence interval of +/-0.61% to +/-3.05%.)

In addition the Business Gateway team often get thanks from clients for the service they offer – see below and separate sheet for additional feedback.

“Business Gateway have been an incredible asset in our business journey. I went to Business Gateway with no knowledge on how to start or run a business, however through meeting regularly with my Business Gateway advisor (Steve) I was taught the in’s and out’s of business and how to effectively communicate my idea to others. To date my business has received 2 awards and this is all thanks to the amazing support provided by Steve at Business Gateway. I cannot emphasis enough the importance that Business gateway plays in developing young business.” Jake

“My business partner and I first spoke to Robbie at Business Gateway when we had the idea of setting up our company. He was well-informed and enthusiastic, and his initial advice set us on the right track. Our business has grown in the two years since that first meeting and we have consulted Robbie several times along the way. His advice has always been relevant and we have found him to be a great sounding board for any business query. It was reassuring to know there was reliable, independent advice on hand when we needed it.” Lynn O’Rourke

4) Details about the delivery of business support services, particularly: o whether outsourcing or in-house is the approach taken to providing Business Gateway services;

In East Lothian, Business Gateway Services are delivered by East Lothian Council.

o any changes to the delivery mechanism over the last ten years and the rationale for this change, and;

No change – this is the most appropriate model as this gives direct access to other LA departments such as Planning , Business Rates, EHO etc.

5) Details of any other services offered to businesses, especially SMEs and start- ups, by your local authority.

In addition to the core Business Gateway service delivered nationally, East Lothian Council’s Economic Development Team/East Lothian Business Gateway provide a wide range of services designed to support business growth and stimulate entrepreneurial activity. These include:

ERDF Funded Business Competitiveness Activity

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Since April 2016, East Lothian Council has benefitted from ERDF funding which has allowed the LA to introduce enhanced business growth support through Business Gateway. The ERDF activity in East Lothian includes:

 Expert Help Programme – allows SME’s to receive up to 3 days of fully funded consultancy support from tendered consultancy experts. The offering will go back out to tender in September this year until 2023. East Lothian SME’s benefit from consultancy experts across a range of topics covering e-commerce, social media, IT, shop doctor, packaging, HR, branding, marketing, customer care and waste and energy efficiency.

198 SME’s benefitted from the Expert Help receiving in total 247 days consultancy broken down as:-  Customer Care – 8  Product packaging – 4  Waste minimisation and energy efficiency – 21.5  Social Media for businesses – 24.5  HR - management of employees – 40  IT Security and cyber crime – 11.5  Branding – 36.5  Websites and e-commerce – 40  Marketing – 42  Revitalising Tourism Retail – 19

The intention is to introduce some changes to the ERDF activity from January 2019 to address changing market demand and make best use of the resources available. The social media and web consultancy will cease with this activity being delivered via Digital Boost. New Expert Help consultancies will be on enhanced IT security with the inclusion of GDPR as well as the inclusion of an accreditation consultancy covering SALSA/BRC for the Food and Drink sector and ISO 9,001/14,001 for engineering and manufacturing.

Financial Support to Businesses Funded by East Lothian Council and part funded by ERDF (40%), there is grant support to businesses to encourage SMEs to invest in and grow their business. The grant can be used for the purchase of plant and machinery as well as commercial property improvements and is linked to job creation/protection. Grants of 50% capital expenditure up to a maximum of £25,000 are available in 2018/19.

In 2017/18, 22 grants totalling £198,000 were awarded. This is projected to create 103 new jobs and £79,200 will be claimed back from the ERDF Business Competitiveness programme.

Supplier Development Programme East Lothian Council is an active member of this partnership of Local Authorities, Scottish Government and other public bodies working together to support SMEs in all aspects of tendering. Assisting SMEs to become tender-ready for public

4 EJFW/S5/18BS/16 procurement on an annual UK public spend of £240 billion improving their all-round efficiency, sustainability and market potential.

Queen Margaret University Business Gateway office East Lothian Business Gateway has a dedicated meeting space within Queen Margaret University, . This office accommodates meetings with Business Gateway advisers and clients in the Musselburgh area as well as students and lecturers at the university.

The advisers also deliver presentations on starting up/business growth on a number of university courses. The East Lothian Business Gateway Manager also sits on the Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Advisory steering group for the university.

This is the only embedded Business Gateway office in any higher education facility in Scotland.

Scotland’s Food and Drink County Business Improvement District (BID) Delivered by East Lothian Council’s Economic Development team, the F&D BID brings together 44 East Lothian food and drink producers into a collaboration with East Lothian Council. This is the first food and drink sector BID in the world.

It includes a dedicated sales person promoting and selling a basket of East Lothian producers, strong single brand development, group stands and visits to major UK exhibitions as well as providing a range of advice, information and customised training programmes.

See link https://www.scotlandsfooddrinkcounty.com/

East Lothian Investments Ltd East Lothian Council operates an arms-length company that offers interest-free loans to SME’s. The company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is the only such type of LA arms length company in Scotland.

In 2017/18, 23 loans were awarded to the value of £386,000 and which levered in private sector funding of £3,353,480 and is projected to create 163 jobs and protect a further 124.

See link https://www.eastlothianinvestments.com/

Digital Boost Through this Scottish Government programme designed to enhance the digital skills of Scotland’s SME base, Business Gateway Edinburgh and Lothian delivered workshops on a range of digital subjects, and enabled businesses to access specialist advice.

Christmas Shop Local Delivered by East Lothian Council’s Economic Development this programme promotes shop local through the Christmas run up. The incentive is a prize draw for

5 EJFW/S5/18BS/16 shop local vouchers to the monetary value of £2,000 and the entry criteria is that a customer must spend more than £20 in a local independent retailer.

In 2017, 111 retailers took part and 6,351 entry cards were submitted.

Tourism, events and golf East Lothian has a strong tourism offer – golf, countryside, outdoor sports and activities – and this is evidenced by the numbers employed, economic impact of the sector and events and visitor perceptions. Support through a full-time dedicated Tourism Officer helps individual businesses and groups of businesses to improve their marketing and business potential. Also, Digital Tourism Scotland workshops have been delivered in East Lothian and for 2018 a suite of customer care golf- themed workshops have been offered. Funding support for events and marketing initiatives can be made available.

Support for Social Enterprise Delivered by East Lothian Council Economic Development through the Business Gateway, this provides financial and business support as well as advisory services tailored to those wishing to start and grow a Social Enterprise in East Lothian. Part of the remit of this support is to overcome the perception among social enterprises that Business Gateway services are somehow incompatible with their ideals and business model and encourage them to make better use of mainstream business support services and funding.

In 2017/18, 8 social enterprises were assisted to start and develop including “Hey Girls” the winner of Scotland’s Virgin Start Up of the year award for all start ups. The support she was given was fundamental to this business starting up.

Brewery Park Office, Haddington Opened in November 2016 and developed and funded by East Lothian Land Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of East Lothian Council, converted an unused ELC building into 10 affordable small office spaces. The capital expenditure being repaid to East Lothian Land Ltd through a share of the rentals received by ELC. On opening and within twomonths the building was at 100% occupancy with a mix of start ups, social enterprises and existing businesses.

Networking events Delivered monthly by Business Gateway East Lothian, the East Lothian Coffee mornings are held on the last Friday of the month and have developed into a major networking platform in East Lothian with on average 60 businesses attending. The format is 8.00am start with 30 minute networking, a guest speaker on a relevant topic and then further networking. They are delivered around the county for inclusivity, see link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/biz-east-lothian-coffee-morning-july- 20-2018-tickets-47344325151

Business Buzz magazine Produced quarterly by Economic Development and circulated electronically as well as hard copy, this magazine provides companies including new starts a platform to promote their business. In addition relevant business articles are included – see link

6 EJFW/S5/18BS/16 https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/210563/business/11961/business_advice_and_in formation/10

Seminars and Workshops Economic Development organises relevant workshops and seminars in addition to that offered by the Business Gateway National programme – for example first aid and REHIS training as well as specialised events - a recent seminar on GDPR for example had 105 business attendees. Feedback on Business Gateway service 1) “Business Gateway East Lothian has provided us guidance and expertise from the very first seedling of our idea through to the nut and bolts of establishing a legal structure/basic operational foundations for what has become Rogue Village. This support has continued throughout our first year or so by providing a sounding board, creating direct business opportunities, facilitating valuable introductions as well as general mentorship. Furthermore we have received start-up funding without which we would have struggled to mobilise so quickly. It has been invaluable to have an ever present support structure that we are able to call upon whenever we need to for matters big or small. The relationship has remained formal enough to ensure practise is of the highest order but informal enough to be able to be honest and frank about our own personal struggles of a business start-up. It has been reassuring knowing we have 'someone in our corner' without imposing financial burden at a highly sensitive stage. Any level of success we achieve, Business Gateway will always be recognised as a vital part of that journey. We have nothing but praise for Business Gateway and their approach and have regular conversations with our peers who speak just as highly of their own experiences. It would be a great loss for Scottish start-ups, budding entrepreneurs and creatives who lack the business knowhow to facilitate innovative ideas if it does not continue to operate as it does.” Rogue Village

2) "I have been using the Business Gateway service for 2 years now and I am very happy with the assistance I have received. The Advisors have been both helpful and knowledgeable and have greatly assisted me with the challenges that I have faced, as a new business. In addition to valuable one to one advice, the networking events and short training workshops have also been very informative. I would strongly recommend the service to all local businesses." Colin Wright

3) “Simply put if it weren’t for Business Gateway I wouldn’t be in business. You guys have advised me with my business taxes and keeping the books straight. As well as where to get a website done, where I got my business cards and advertising material from. It’s handy to have someone local to

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speak to when I need advice or have any concerns. It’s a service that simply can’t be matched over the phone.” Dale.

4) “I had several business ideas and business funding angles that I was looking at. I was a 49 year old setting a web design business! I was not at all confident on how I go about, networking, accessing new training skills and funding for expansion and taking on more people. I met with Robbie at Business Gateway in Haddington. I can honestly say Robbie had the knowledge and “nouse” to let me know in an hour what would have taken a week on my own. It’s great for a small business to free access to a professional person who knows about business and knows about the red tape we can sometimes face!” Murray

5) “Business gateway has provided us with vital support in my start up business. Through workshops and one to one support I have gained a great amount of knowledge to support me in developing my business. Business gateway has offered us incredible support, when we are lost we are provided with our next steps. Steve (our business gateway advisor) is always there to support us through one to one sessions which are incredibly helpful and through phone calls and email, so we always feel that we have support. Through regular meetings with business gateway we feel that we have gained great amounts of confidence to achieve our dream of owning our own business. Business Gateway has been an essential aspect in establishing our business and helping us grow in confidence.” Amee

6) "I have recently relocated to Edinburgh after ten years in France. I wanted to set up an executive coaching business but really didn't know where to start. I met with Steve who was not only enthusiastic but had a wealth of experience in advising businesses in East Lothian. Through Business Gateway Steve invited me to, well attended, networking events which gave me a short-cut into the local community. Furthermore, Business Gateway edit a supportive magazine for the business community which develops and enlivens B2B interaction. When flagging, as one-man businesses often do, Steve brought his energy and persuasion in the form of: clarity to complex areas of tax/accounting; and a valuable introduction to an excellent local website designer. Business Gateway has thereby cut my 'set-up' time in half and given me invaluable insight into the business environment in East Lothian. An extremely important asset without which my business my never have evolved. Business Gateway is a unique, and valuable resource to organisations seeking to optimise opportunities and develop. Steve's energy, and expertise, has stimulated, guided and created opportunities for many local organisations." Una

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7) As founder and Director of local award winning social enterprise, Lead a Bright Future CIC, I am writing to acknowledge the tremendous support of Business Gateway.

As we approach our fifth year in business I would like to say a huge thank you for the support of Richard Baty and his team, especially Robbie Broomfield. Since inception Business Gateway has provided us invaluable support in the form of sound business sense and guidance, access to helpful networks, providing support and belief, critical seed funding and growth funding, as well as opportunities to showcase the work we do.

Business Gateway have also been instrumental in the success of our projects supporting children and young people with entrepreneurial aptitudes to initiate innovative projects and business ventures. Robbie was involved with projects based within Knox High School in 2017/18, to develop business ideas. He met with the young people throughout the course(s), supporting them with business development and financial-management. All the young people spoke of how helpful it was to have the opportunity to work with external advisers and gain exposure to the “real world” in a business sense, and the positive difference it made to their understanding of business, links with the community, and improving their confidence. Each of the pupils developed into confident business people and between them three business start-ups were formed that continue now.

The benefits that Business Gateway in East Lothian provides the local community is clearly demonstrated by the tremendous number of businesses attending any of their network meetings and the excellent reputation they uphold.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the team and acknowledge their tremendous support and the vital services of Business Gateway, without which I’m certain we would not be able to achieve the level of social impact locally or contribute to the local economy as we do.

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