Social Enterprise Support Infrastructure Project

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Stage 2 Research Capacity and Resources for
Social Enterprise Support in Birmingham and
Solihull RESEARCH FINDINGS Ranjit Bansal Chris
Newis
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Purpose of the Research
Stage 1 Research Demand Side Aim Examine the
service and support needs of existing, new start
and emerging social enterprises and trading
voluntary and community sector organisations Under
taken by Initiative
for Social Entrepreneurs
Stage 2 Research Supply Side Aim Assess the
capacity and resources of existing (and emerging)
support, development and infrastructure agencies
in the sub-region to meet the demand for social
enterprise support Undertaken by cbc Ltd
Summary of Findings To inform the development of
an Infrastructure Investment Plan for the Social
Enterprise Sector in Birmingham and Solihull
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Research Objectives
Assess capacity and resources to meet the demand
for social enterprise support
1. Analysis of existing and emerging agencies
2. Degree to which agencies are able to meet
demand
3. Areas of growth demand not being met
4. Resources required to meet existing and
additional demand
6. Areas for increasing and developing demand
8. Differential development issues due to
locality
5. Agencies assessment of gaps in support
provision
7. Sector specific development issues
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Research Activity
Research findings and Report
Semi-structured face to face and telephone
interviews Conducted Feb
- May 06
17 BSSEC members, 11 non members including 3
public sector bodies
Data analysis via notes and audio tapes. Meeting
with ISE to share findings

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Research Findings

• 4 Categories of Agency
• Dedicated specialist agencies (2)
• Other specialist (13)
• Non specialist (6)
• Potential providers (4)

2.
e.g. Digbeth Trust, ART, UnLtd, Bournville
College, ASSE, Colebridge Trust
1.
Co-Enterprise ISE
3.
4.
e.g. 3b, Amazon Initiatives
e.g. BVSC, LDAs, Business Link BS
Support offered includes grants, loans, one to
one business advisor support, training,
mentoring, coaching, signposting/referrals, and
consultancy.
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Research Findings
Support Interventions Collective current client
base of 200 social enterprise clients, 400
supported in the past 12 months Number of
agencies is a deceptive indicator of resources
and capacity available Limited, fragmented and
under-resourced specialist social enterprise
support available in sub-region
Generating Demand Organisations that have
limited resources to support social enterprise
report low levels of demand because demand is
led by supply Latent demand can only be unlocked
where resources are available to promote the model
Meeting Demand Organisations having resources
to support social enterprise report high levels
of demand but have limited capacity Organisational
sustainability is biggest challenge One to one
support under pressure
Growth Demand Agencies not focussed enough on
unlocking market opportunities for SEnt Public
Procurement Next two years critical Cluster/consor
tium development Technical Support IT, Legal
services, HR, Finance

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Research Findings
Inter-agency Working Referral dependence to and
from dedicated agencies Agencies unaware of the
full range of services on offer Bounce
back Referral and client tracking system to
improving access to support available IDB model
knowledge gap
Public Sector BCC funding for support is 100K.
Commissioning Gateway had major impact Solihull
MBC - internal awareness raising with procurement
dept Social enterprise seen as a sub-sector of
VCS by LSC Opportunities emerging in SW Bham,
North Solihull, NRF FTAP
Gaps in Provision Specialist social enterprise
support Funding for enterprises and support
agencies Business incubation North Solihull no
specialist support available and VCS
underdeveloped
Emerging Demand Voluntary and community sector
particularly through Local Development
Agencies BME enterprise agencies require
resources for market testing

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Conclusions

• Very limited specialist business support for
  start-up, early trading and development of a
  nature that is provided by Co-Enterprise and ISE.
  
• The availability of support on a scale that is
  required for a growing and vibrant social
  enterprise sector in the sub-region does not
  exist.
• Funding for specialist support is becoming
  increasingly difficult to secure. Most support is
  restricted geographically by programme objectives
  and outputs.
• Demand for services from specialist agencies that
  have resources (however limited) is high and they
  lack capacity to respond fully.
• Few agencies are developing the capacity of
  social enterprises to take advantage of new
  market opportunities.
• Very high demand for technical support services
  affordability is a barrier. Also key requirement
  for business incubation units.

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Conclusions

• Agencies lack in depth knowledge of the services
  provided by other organisations. This is
  preventing high quality and effective referrals,
  and there is no system in place for tracking
  client progress.
• Although regeneration initiatives are coming on
  stream - key issue is the sustainability of
  existing providers until some of these
  opportunities mature.
• LDAs are a key interface with potential and
  emerging social enterprises.
• Tendency to adopt a traditional model of
  delivering support through dedicated social
  enterprise advisors contributing to
  sustainability and capacity problems.
• Support is primarily Birmingham focussed -
  significant gap in North Solihull.
•  

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Recommendations

• Resource dedicated specialist social enterprise
  support in sub-region.
• Focus support on new market opportunities.
• Increase awareness of support available amongst
  agencies.
• Develop a client referral and tracking system -
  clarifying roles and expectations of each agency.
• Explore alternative models of support e.g. peer
  mentoring programmes.
• Provide LDAs with basic social enterprise
  training.
• Raise awareness IDB model amongst all agencies.
• Need strong and influential strategic leadership
  to unlock market opportunities.
• Address gaps and support growth areas
  particularly business incubation and requirement
  for technical support.

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Contact Details
Chris Newis Chief Executive Officer Ranjit
Bansal Director of Research cbc Ltd Social
Economy House Victoria Street West Bromwich B70
8ET Tel [phone] infosocialeconomy.org www
.socialeconomy.org