Business Start-Up Support
On behalf of the Northwest Development Agency, EKOS evaluated an £8m start-up programme established to address the productivity gap in the North West of England by tackling the limited start-up activity among under-represented groups, including women, BMEs, disabled and those living in areas of deprivation. The evaluation ensured that the project was on track to achieve its objectives, and crucially, informed its future design with a focus on addressing two key challenges –funding, and achieving delivery across all parts of the region.
North East Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS-NE)
MAS-NE is the key public sector support mechanism for North East manufacturing businesses. Through providing access to specialist expertise across four key strands – Resource Efficiency, Design, Operational Excellence, and Energy. It is tasked with delivering measurable improvements to businesses by helping them enhance performance and productivity. EKOS is conducting a longitudinal evaluation of the service with the interim report completed in January 2011, and a final report in November 2011.
The study method follows the logic model approach to evaluation assessing: the strategic market failure rationale, quantitative and qualitative performance, the economic impacts achieved, and lessons for the future.
Fife Culture of Enterprise Strategy
EKOS worked with Fife Council and a range of regional and national partners to develop a strategic framework for the development of a Culture of Enterprise Strategy in Fife, followed by an action plan and monitoring and evaluation framework. The strategy is based on the enterprise journey model and aligns support and development programmes from pre-school through to adult intervention, raising awareness of enterprise and developing enterprise skills across the whole region.
Appraisal and Evaluation of Funding Programmes
EKOS has recently completed a review of the ERDF supported Business Angel Programme (including the Scottish Co-Investment Fund elements) over the past 10 years, which included sectoral and spatial analysis of investment activity. The research included interviews with a range of major public and private sector stakeholders operating in venture capital and investment markets, giving us a solid understanding of the funding environment and related key issues.
EKOS also developed the ex-ante Green Book Appraisal (GBA) of the Venture Capital Loan Fund in the Northwest for the NWDA which is now in operation. This included a detailed review of the wider policy environment, and analysis and critique of market failures in financial markets.
FE Enterprise Hubs Project and the National Enterprise Academy
EKOS was commissioned by the North West Development Agency in April 2010 to conduct an evaluation of both the £3m FE Hubs and £1m NEA projects. FE Hubs is designed to develop the enterprise skills of children and young people, with support provided via thirteen FE colleges and clusters of primary and secondary schools. The £1m NEA is an employer-led centre of excellence for enterprise learning, established by the Peter Jones Foundation as a national initiative. The evaluation is longitudinal, working alongside project delivery in order to inform the projects’ ongoing and future development.
National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) Northwest Higher Education Enterprise Champions
EKOS conducted an evaluation of the Northwest HE Enterprise Champions project aimed at developing more enterprising cultures in the region’s higher education institutions. The evaluation process combined detailed desk review and consultation with partners, alongside a series of interviews with champions and their host HEIs, and surveys of student beneficiaries. EKOS was subsequently engaged by NCGE to conduct similar evaluations of its portfolio of enterprise development projects including Flying Start, University Enterprise Networks, Make it Happen and International Entrepreneurship Educators.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Account Management
Since 2008, HIE has used an account management approach as the main focus for providing support to businesses and social enterprises with growth ambitions. It does this specifically to deliver the Scottish Government’s Economic Strategy and in order to accelerate growth in turnover, profitability, wage levels, exports and, therefore, Gross Value Added (GVA) in the HIE area. In late 2010 EKOS was commissioned to provide a formative review of the account management approach to inform its future development. Underlying this work were the requirements to: assess the appropriateness of account management to support relationships with businesses and social enterprises; develop key principles for the way forward; and make recommendations for future improvements.