Entrepreneurship
Theme: Innovation
Cross-cutting themes covered: Tailored business support
Name of project: Global Gateway to Trade (GG2T)
City: London
What is it? GG2T is designed to promote innovation in London, enabling more black, Asian and minority ethnic businesses to benefit from international trade and expand into new markets. In addition, the project was intended to build the overall capacity of local enterprise agencies (similar to one-stop shops) operating in deprived areas, to assist businesses with international trade activities.
Who is it? The project was delivered by GLE oneLondon and also included six local enterprise agencies. Over the course of the project, partnerships were established with many local business incubators, community-based support providers and networks in order to recruit sufficient numbers of businesses onto the programme.
Where is it? The project worked with black, Asian and minority ethnic businesses located in London’s Objective 2 areas. Urban areas qualify for Objective 2 status if unemployment is above the EU average, the crime rate is high, education levels are low, and there is deemed to be a high level of poverty in the area.
Who funds it?
How does it work? • Provision of tailored business support: The GG2T team spent several months at the beginning of the project identifying the client group and their needs. Most of the potential clients had little or no international trade experience, and required a combination of traditional business support and international trade advice. GG2T found that a gap in business support existed – this type of advice was not offered anywhere in London. GG2T tailored its offer in order to fill this gap:
Anything else? Making your provision accessible to your target group: Recruiting businesses onto the project was particularly challenging. GG2T devoted considerable resources to building relationships with six enterprise agencies – it was intended that these agencies, which are like one-stop shops, would proactively support the identification of suitable clients. However, many of these agencies lacked the resources to do this and some ran their own Objective 2 projects, meaning that if they directed businesses to GG2T they could risk ‘double-counting’. (Participating in the GG2T project could mean that enterprise agencies would jeopardise reaching their own targets).
There was no easy solution to this challenge. The GG2T team had to diversify their marketing strategy considerably, using a combination of the following methods: -
What are the results? This diversification of recruitment methods worked; GG2T was highly successful, delivering the following outputs:
Is the model transferable ? The method of recruiting businesses onto the project is replicable. Instead of relying solely on local enterprise agencies, GG2T ‘diversified’ its recruitment method, for example, working with black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) networks and incubators, and using telesales and outreach.
Presenting a clear offer to businesses about what support they will receive on the project is vital; it can be very difficult to get busy entrepreneurs to devote time to business support services, even if they are free or highly subsidised. Businesses on the GG2T programme were given the concrete offer of a trade mission, participation in an exhibition and introduction to buyers, on condition that they undertook a certain amount of counselling/mentoring.
Building on local competitive advantages? The project identified a gap in the market, and worked to fill this gap. Policy-makers and practitioners looking to replicate this project in other areas should look for similar gaps in demand. Similarly, although the general model of GG2T is transferable, replicated projects should be tailored to specific needs. For example, GG2T developed sector-specific advice and training, and linked with sector groups, such as the food and creative sector.
What are the barriers to transferability? Lack of sufficient finance to market the project to businesses would constitute a barrier to transferability. Also, as discussed above, successful delivery depends on identifying a gap in the market.
