Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting in August 2023, an update had been provided on the progress to operationalise and deliver the Enterprise Support Service which had been branded as Go Succeed.

            Since the last update, the service was successfully launched and had now been operational for around eight months.

            It was reported that the new service aimed to be the go-to source for expert business advice across the region. It represented the councils’ collective response to our statutory responsibility and offers a set of connected enterprise support services where individuals, entrepreneurs or businesses could access a continuum of support to meet their needs, depending on their stage of development.

            The key objectives of the model were to:

·        Nurture a strong entrepreneurial culture, recognising enterprise as a viable career option and/or a route out of economic inactivity;

·        Enable a vibrant and productive business base across Northern Ireland;

·        Increase the proportion of ‘innovation-active’ businesses in NI and embed this more firmly with enterprise/ start-up agenda;

·        Diversify the representation amongst those supported by the enterprise and innovation ecosystem;

·        Delivery a service designed with the user in mind;

·        Focus on adding value to existing support available in the ecosystem; and

·        Providing regional coverage while ensuring that delivery reflects local differences/nuances.

            The Committee was informed that the ‘Go Succeed’ provided a continuum of support from early-stage enterprise awareness through to starting, growing, and scaling a business. The concept was that the service would help people get the right support at the right time – and would also help maximise other available funding streams by helping businesses to navigate the complex support ecosystem.

            The service had been established to deliver across three core areas – Start, Grow and Scale – with tailored support for clients aligned with their growth ambitions.

 Start: this element of the service aims to identify individuals with entrepreneurial intentions as well as reaching those individuals who do not have an intention to start a business but could be encouraged to do so. There is specific, targeted support for a range of underrepresented groups. The menu of support available included masterclasses, peer support networks and 1-1 mentoring;

 Grow: this element of the service provides support for existing businesses. 1-1 mentoring is allocated based on the business’ potential to grow and innovate. Masterclass and peer support network activity are also provided to support existing businesses to make key decisions on issues such as entering new markets or accessing finance for growth; and

 Scale: this part of the service is geared to supporting start-ups that have the potential to go on and generate at least £1m in revenue after 3 years. Support is delivered through 1-1 mentoring which aims to enable access to finance or further support through Invest NI, Catalyst or others.

            In addition to the tiered menu of support, small grants of up to £4,000 (and up to 70% of capital/revenue costs) are available to entrepreneurs or businesses accessing support through the service who demonstrate growth potential.

            The delivery was underpinned by investments such as a wide-reaching marketing and communications campaign; a call handling service to deal with phone enquiries as well as an online portal to deal with online requests for support and a regional CRM system to enable tracking of client engagement across the service.

Regional Performance Update

            Since the service launched in November 2023, we have achieved the following by way of regional performance:

·        18,793 individuals 'reached' through a range of community outreach activities;

·        3,204 individuals/entrepreneurs supported through start up activity (1-1 mentoring, masterclasses, peer support networks);

·        2,514 businesses supported through growth activity 1-1 mentoring, masterclasses, peer support networks); and

·        176 entrepreneurs/businesses have accessed Go Succeed Grants since the launch in February 2024.

            The Committee was advised that the service provided an opportunity for councils to deliver a consistent approach to enterprise, start up and growth provision across the region. However, it also had the flexibility to adapt to meet the specific needs of entrepreneurs and businesses within local areas. To achieve this, councils had developed local-level annual service plans which identified key areas of focus for outreach and delivery activities.

Belfast Performance Update

            It was reported that, since the service launched in November 2023, the Council had achieved the following:

·        1,984 individuals 'reached' through a range of community outreach activities;

·        From January-March 2024, the Enterprise and Business Growth team had also delivered inclusive mentoring support to 15 individuals with further barriers to engagement;

·        523 Belfast entrepreneurs supported through start up activity (1-1 mentoring, masterclasses, peer support networks)

·        481 Belfast businesses supported through growth activity (1-1 mentoring, masterclasses, peer support networks).

            The Committee were advised that, 82 Belfast businesses had accessed Go Succeed Grants since the launch in February 2024, drawing down over £300,000. These grants had enabled businesses to purchase capital and/or revenue items which will support their future growth plans.

            For the year ahead, planned activity included:

·        Establishing, and building upon, relationships with key stakeholders across the city to put in place targeted interventions to engage with under-represented groups and work to overcome the barriers to starting or growing a business for those groups;

·        Working with the council’s Culture and Tourism teams to support a neighbourhood tourism programme promoting innovation and entrepreneurship across all city neighbourhoods and helping bring forward new tourism products;

·        Continuing to raise awareness of the Social Economy sector, encouraging and supporting new and existing social enterprises and co-operatives; and

·        Partnering with the council’s Employability and Skills team to target self-employed sectors, including childminding, and delivering bespoke academies to break down barriers to self-employment.

            It was highlighted that, for the future, it was critical that funding was secured to enable this service to continue. The SPF funding was currently scheduled to run out in March 2025 and there was no clarity as to the future SPF funding approach beyond this date. There had been some engagement with the Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Minister had been vocal in his support for the service. However, at this point, DfE was not making a financial contribution to support the delivery of NIESS – although councils were using some of resources allocated to them from central government for the delivery of their statutory duty to provide start-up support as their match funding contribution to the overall funding pot.

            The Committee:

·        Noted and endorsed the progress to date on the delivery of the Enterprise Support Service across Belfast and beyond, with the objective of driving more and better businesses;

·        Noted the pending end date of the current funding in March 2025 and the lack of clarity around future resource availability at this point; and

·        Agreed to support the work to secure resources for delivery beyond March 2025.