Valleys Project Worth £2.9m To Economy Extended For Another Year
An initiative aimed at helping build an army of entrepreneurs across the South Wales valleys and worth an estimated £2.9m to the local economy over the past two years is to be extended for another 12 months.
The Welsh Government and Communities First-funded Effect (Enterprise Facilitation for Effective Community Transformation) has supported over 730 individuals involved in start-up ventures, existing business growth and social enterprise creation in Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Bridgend, as well as helping create 95 new businesses. The project was initially funded until 31 March 2016 and recently secured funding for a further year.
Effect has assembled a network of professionals from the private, public and voluntary sectors – with experience in areas such as product development accountancy and marketing – to help grow their clients’ businesses.
Among those reaping rewards from the support are an award-winning Ebbw Vale baby and toddler stroller manufacturer, a Treharris bespoke hand-made furniture company, a Cwmbran company providing activities for the disabled, elderly and people with additional needs, and a vintage-style tearoom in Maesteg.
The Heads of the Valleys and Bridgend Effect programme began in May 2014, funded to the tune of almost £430,000 by the Welsh Government, with each local authority providing match funding totalling more than £150,000.
The project is delivered by ‘Enterprise Facilitators’ in each local authority area who provide free and confidential support through their local network of contacts and resources. These include Volunteer Resource Panels, which comprise local business and civic leaders, economic development practitioners and private sector professionals.
There are also Local Management Boards – volunteers from theprivate sector and local authority employees, who helped to establish the schemes – and Regional Management Boards, which oversee the project and ensure targets, financial spend and objectives are met.
A recent independent evaluation found that:
- forty three per cent of participants live in Communities First areas
- more than a quarter of them (28%) were unemployed before involvement in the project
- fifty six per cent who were trying to start a business had been successful, with two-thirds who had not yet started a business on entering the project feeling they were now closer to doing so
- the number of jobs provided by businesses owned by participants had increased by 90 (FTE) during their time in the project
“Helping businesses to start-up and grow leads to more trade,” said Dr Steven Donbavand, Senior Consultant with Wavehill Social and Economic Research, which carried out the evaluation. “It’s estimated that this additional trade is worth £2.9m to the local economy – which represents a very good return on the £622,000 investment.”
Other key findings are that many stakeholders viewed the support provided by Effect as being focused on the individual – rather than the business – and thus was as much about personal as business development.
“The project has been described as filling the gaps left by mainstream business support, primarily due to the relationship that the facilitator could develop and then maintain with individual clients,” Dr Donbavand added.
“Effect is able to focus on and engage with hard to reach clients and the Resource Panel provides a type of locally-based support – local knowledge – that isn’t available from more formal/generic business support or training. “
Enterprise Facilitation was founded by Italian Dr Ernesto Sirolli, who devised it in 1985 as a way for local communities to support and help would-be entrepreneurs and existing small and medium-sized business. Since then, the model has been adopted in more than 250 communities worldwide.
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