Enterprise, small business development and the North West Region

Heywood, DC ORCID: 0000-0003-0427-7616 and Southern, A ORCID: 0000-0003-3661-3442 (2005) Enterprise, small business development and the North West Region. In: Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship ISBE, 2005-11-1 - 2005-11-3, Blackpool, UK.

	Text Heywood_Southern 2005.doc - Unspecified Download (103kB)
	Text Heywood_Southern 2006.doc - Unspecified Access to this file is embargoed until Unspecified. Download (159kB)

Abstract

Purpose: The paper explores views from the private sector on the environment for enterprise in the North West region. Perspectives on start-up strategy and on business development more generally including small business growth, human capital and the role of the North West Development Agency, are critically examined by the authors. It is essential to comprehend the meaning that lies behind the views of private business to help assess the relative naivety – or not as the case may be – of government policy. Design/Methodology/Approach: The approach to the work has been exploratory and qualitative in nature. The study is based on 19 semi structured face-to-face interviews, 3 telephone interviews and 5 focus groups conducted over a two month period involving small business owners and members of a nationally recognised professional advisory organisation. Findings: The interviews demonstrate a juxtaposition of regional parallels poised neatly against an untidy mix of views on business strategy for the region. The rich tapestry of perspectives highlight significant similarity in the interests of businesses in the region but also demonstrate differences in the perspectives of business owners and the advisors who aim to support business owners ‘best interests’. It amplifies individuals’ perspectives according to their firm size, age, sector and location. Implications: Implications are paradoxical. Researchers, policy makers and professional advisors in the private and public sector attempt to ascertain the macro implications of focused policy in respect of their own perspectives. This is possibly distorted when it runs against those of the business owners themselves. The provision of business support is a contentious area of discussion and this paper highlights the heterogeneity of businesses and why one size policy support rarely fits all, if ever. Originality/Value: The promotion of business in the North West is far from unique and is currently in the hands of the public sector through agencies such as Business Link, Enterprise Agencies and in some extreme cases, Local Strategic Partnerships. With productivity improvements and innovation being top of the nationwide agenda this paper examines how aware small business owners are of opportunities to meet this objective. At the same time it exposes the ‘pick-n-mix’ advisory provision that is currently available as inefficient and counter productive. Ideas about private sector advisory agents becoming support brokers are questioned and are argued to be premature, while the interpretation of productivity improvements, innovation and training as costs show tangible limitations to the development of enterprise in the region.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Unspecified)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Entrepreneurship, North West Development Agency, government policy
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 Apr 2016 14:45
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2022 02:28
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3000241