Business support to third sector organisations contract review: research summary

6 Conclusions and Future Considerations

6.1 This chapter presents the review conclusions, and suggested considerations going forward.

Overall Conclusion

6.2 In answer to the fundamental review question, and in broadest terms, yes, Just Enterprise has indeed successfully delivered specialised Business Support, Start-up Support and Leadership Support services in line with contract objectives. This is evidenced by: the strong contract delivery performance across all of the three main service areas; all three service areas being valued by beneficiaries who participated in the review, with a wide range of associated impacts achieved; and strong volumes of delivery.

6.3 From a standing start and a pre-existing situation of fragmented support across Scotland, Just Enterprise has become a national service with a Scotland-wide offer. This is a considerable achievement. In broad terms, pan-Scotland coverage has been achieved, along with a general level of consistency in the service offering. A single entry point to the service has been created, and the demand-led service is fulfilling an identified need i.e. providing business support to social enterprises and Enterprising Third Sector organisations.

Contract Performance

6.4 Between 2011 / 12 and 2016 / 2017, the Just Enterprise service has provided 6,697 instances of support to some 4,927 organisations and 9,922 instances of support to individuals. This is a considerable volume of activity. For contract expenditure of £5.9m, the service has reached all 32 local authority areas in Scotland, with support brigaded under each of its three main areas of support: Start-up, Business Support and Leadership.

6.5 Following the initial three year contract period there have been a series of contract extensions, and the service has evolved and matured over each successive phase. New service offerings have been added to meet identified demand, including Procurement, Pre-investment Support, Business Recovery and specialised support to Supported Business. These have complemented the core one-to-one and one-to-many workshop services.

6.6 The Just Enterprise service has been modelled on the Business Gateway service, the principal large-scale business support service for mainstream businesses. This segmented market approach has been largely successful. This has allowed service developments in the Start-up and Leadership parts of the service, and refinements to the transition from one support to the other, including Start-up Lift-up which helps bridge the gap between Start-up and Business Support through Just Enterprise.

Just Enterprise Recipient Experience and Benefits

6.7 Beneficiaries of all parts of the service, who participated in the research, have had a positive experience of Just Enterprise, reflected in strong service satisfaction levels, especially in relation to the level of expertise, service quality, method of engagement and the appropriateness of timing of support, where at least four in five rated these elements good or very good.

6.8 Strong satisfaction levels in the service, translate into a wide range of benefits for service recipients. These are economic and social impacts of benefits accruing for local communities, as well as benefits for social enterprise organisations and individuals. Economically, increasing and safeguarding turnover and creating and safeguarding jobs were important impacts.

6.9 Further, more than four in five who participated reported an increased confidence to trade, for example, as a result of Just Enterprise support, with organisations more confident, with improved morale, and with greater aspirations to grow. Just Enterprise is equipping service recipients with the skills and confidence to develop and grow.

6.10 Again, these benefits arise in all parts of the service, strongest in those participating in Leadership programmes. Improved strategic and business planning is the business benefit most frequently cited, positive given this is a core part of the Just Enterprise service, but also increased sustainability and more efficient business practice. These are benefits already derived by service recipients.

6.11 Although not explicit objectives of Just Enterprise, wider benefits included expanded networks through new relationships with Third Sector organisations and a clear organisation purpose. These are unexpected, or unintended consequences, of the service.

Fit with the Business Support Landscape

6.12 The Just Enterprise service is largely recognised as the place to go for business support for social enterprises, with the service fulfilling a need for this type of support.

6.13 That said, the Just Enterprise service is not as visible, and its offer not as well known, as perhaps it should be, given that the service has been established since 2011. Not all of those outside the consortium are clear on the Just Enterprise offer, particularly its details. This is clearly a two-way responsibility, however the consortium could – and should – do more to work with external partners on communicating its offer, and impact.

6.14 Perhaps as a result of weak visibility, and also potentially further demand, there is some evidence that local Third Sector Intermediary organisations are starting to provide business support to social enterprises. This starts to be a duplication of effort, and to introduce confusion to the marketplace.

6.15 The Just Enterprise service largely operates in parallel to mainstream business support and the mainstream business sector. Although modelled on the Business Gateway approach, interaction with Business Gateway appears patchy. In some geographic areas understanding of the respective Just Enterprise and Business Gateway offers by advisers is strong, in other areas less so. Additional support to social enterprises is provided in some Business Gateway areas, in others there is very little.

6.16 Overall, Business Gateway referrals into Just Enterprise are low, at 8%, and there would appear to be a considerable opportunity for the two to work more closely together. This has been recognised with the introduction of Knowledge Exchange sessions, also involving enterprise agency staff, however this has only recently been introduced.

6.17 Given that many of the issues facing social enterprises are similar to mainstream businesses (sound business planning, selling products and services, investor readiness), greater alignment would seem appropriate. Whilst there is also a strong recognition of the differentness of the social enterprise sector from mainstream business, there remains a long-term aspiration for greater levels of integration.

Appropriateness of the Just Enterprise offer

6.18 If the Just Enterprise service did not exist, something like it would need to be established to meet sector demand, and the evidence from the Social Enterprise Census 2017 is that there is ongoing demand for the type of services that it offers. Feedback and impacts from participants of this review to all three parts of the service, Start-up, Business Support and Leadership, are positive.

6.19 There are elements to the offer that have either served their purpose, or that are underplayed, as the sector (and service) evolves and matures. There is no longer the same focus required on Supported Businesses, where all those meeting the original definition have received intensive support, and particularly now that the wider definition of Supported Businesses includes more social enterprises. Other elements of the service can usefully be strengthened or mainstreamed (see things to consider going forward, below).

Management and Delivery

6.20 The Just Enterprise service has been delivered by a consortium through successive contracts. The consortium approach has generally worked well, and this has enabled national coverage to be achieved.

6.21 The successive contracts have been focused on delivering substantial volumes of activity, and these activity volumes have also been achieved. There has been strong contract management via the consortium lead, CEiS to enable this. Processes for receiving enquiries and allocating cases to partners have been established, and these have worked, and improved over time.

6.22 However, whilst strong management has been demonstrated, there is always a challenge to balance this with partnership working. This has not always maximised knowledge-sharing within the consortium.

6.23 There has been considerable innovation and evolution from within the contract to respond to demand and increase the service offer, and the skills gained by the consortium from delivering Just Enterprise are considerable. However, it may be possible to achieve greater levels of flexibility within the service, whilst retaining a core and consistent offer, and to plan better for future demand. Along with some process refinements, these are some of the considerations discussed below.

Considerations Going Forward

6.24 There are a number of considerations for the service going forward.

The Continuation of a National Service

6.25 The review concludes that there have been considerable benefits of introducing a national service of business support to the sector. The service has been taken up in all parts of Scotland, with demand from both urban and rural areas. The social enterprise sector continues to grow and to make an increasing contribution to the inclusive wealth creation in Scotland, and so the continuation of nation-wide business support is appropriate. This requires sufficient investment to ensure that all of Scotland is covered, and where a national service is actively supported by local and regional partners.

Continuation of the Business Gateway style approach

6.26 Further, the review concludes that the duration of support, and the relevance of support is good, and that the short, sharp and focused interventions have helped to generate the good impacts described. The combination of one-to-many (Workshops) and one-to-one support has also helped generate the volumes of activity achieved. A single entry point is also appropriate, and so this Business Gateway model approach has worked well. However, the approach would have to continue to recognise that beneficiaries attending Leadership Services attend longer, multi-day programmes, and short sharp interventions are not the most appropriate approach in this context.

That there is programme of Just Enterprise partner engagement as part of brand promotion and awareness-raising

6.27 The Business Support to Third Sector Organisations contract has been delivered by a consortium. As described, Just Enterprise itself is not an entity, but rather a brand, the title under which the service operates. Given that Just Enterprise is demand-led, and reliant on referrals into (and out of) the service, then there is a very real need for the brand to be strong and recognised.

6.28 The Just Enterprise brand is a good one, which benefits from having been in place for some time. However, although Just Enterprise has met application targets, both partners and service recipients need to be aware of the brand, and specifically what the offer is, and who and what is eligible (including Third Sector Intermediaries). It is therefore worth considering a programme of partner engagement, under the Just Enterprise banner, to increase service visibility and partner understanding. This will also help to reduce the potential for duplication and overlap. The findings in this report can help communicate some of the positive impact messages.

Closer Integration with Mainstream Business Support

6.29 The Knowledge Exchange information sessions between Just Enterprise and mainstream business support organisations are a welcome recent addition, and this is the type of shared understanding across agencies which will ultimately benefit service recipients, and it would be beneficial if these were continued, across Scotland. The aspiration for greater integration of social enterprise business support with mainstream business support should remain an aspiration, so that the available expertise that exists is maximised. Some Business Gateways provide support to social enterprises as part of their non-core, or discretionary funds. Closer working with mainstream business support agencies would increase the range of support that could be available to the social enterprise sector.

6.30 Although the evidence does not indicate large numbers of high growth social enterprises, or those wishing to scale up substantially, these should have their support needs met. This is one way in which greater integration with mainstream business support can be achieved, through increased access to enterprise agency products and services, post Just Enterprise support, for those with growth potential and aspirations. There can also be greater integration with Co-operative Development Scotland ( CDS) / Community Shares Scotland ( CSS), where the relationship can be strengthened.

That a South of Scotland Approach is piloted

6.31 The Enterprise and Skills Review paves the way for greater multi-agency working across business support and skills development, and for the creation of a South of Scotland entity where enterprise and skills support come together, for example through a shared Board. There is an opportunity to pilot social enterprise support in the South of Scotland that is more joined up between Just Enterprise and other support agencies, notably Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise, including enhanced access to information, services and products.

6.32 There is more to be done to work through what this more joined-up approach may look like; however, this review (and the Social Enterprise Census 2017) show a clear demand for workforce development (i.e. staff and skills development within social enterprises). Therefore, there may also be the potential to align skills development support to social enterprises, within a South of Scotland pilot.

That the Just Enterprise offer is refreshed

6.33 The review concludes the Just Enterprise offer is in general terms sound, and has met, and continues to meet, demand for business support. Within this generality, the review discusses some specific refreshes that may be appropriate. These include:

• The potential to mainstream the Business Recovery offer - often the Business Recovery element of the service is called in too late, when the social enterprise is in a precarious position. Improving sustainability remains a key area of support required; the early identification of organisations in difficulty may be helpful, perhaps in the form of an annual / bi-annual health check. This would also help advisers stay close to the client base, although this should not be formulaic and / or lead to pre-determined solutions.
• That consideration is given to the nature of the Pre-investment offer – the current offer extends to a handful of businesses, and based around investor readiness to take-up finance. The Social Enterprise Census shows how little loan and repayable finance is used, based around a reluctance to take on debt. This is a missed opportunity to support finance for growth for social enterprises; a stronger ‘investor-readiness’ offer to the sector is required, linked to more robust / detailed business planning capable of helping organisations access finance.
• That the specific Supported Business element is no longer offered – this element of the service was introduced at a specific point in time, and all those falling under the previous definition have received support. The definition has since been relaxed, and now involves most social enterprises, so a specific offer is no longer required.
• That there is clarity over the Procurement Support offer – whilst the consortium is clear about the offer under Just Enterprise, and whilst there is a good working relationship with the newly introduced Partnership for Procurement partners, there remains a risk of confusion for social enterprises and the duplication of support. There will need to be clear lines of demarcation between the two (and indeed the Supplier Development Programme).
• An enhanced marketing and digital offer – both the demand for marketing support, and digital capability, are flagged in the Social Enterprise Census 2017, and there is evidence from this review that social enterprises do not always consider Just Enterprise when they need this form of support. If we again use Business Gateway as a model, then this is an area of considerable intervention and support to businesses over the last five years; and Just Enterprise could usefully include something similar from on-line and non-traditional selling routes, to digital marketing and using social media. Although this does not necessarily need to be specific to social enterprise and enterprising Third Sector organisations, it is clear that the sector is not currently accessing Business Gateway provision in this sphere to any great extent and so social enterprise specific support here may be beneficial, or that integration with and routes into the available Business Gateway support are improved.
• The potential for mentoring and aftercare – there may be some merit in some form of mentoring for new social enterprises, and perhaps some aftercare, that continues to help growth and development. This would need to be carefully scoped and clearly defined, and this type of support exists for account managed social enterprises. There is some evidence that Start-ups need a little more handholding, even allowing for the introduction of Lift-up.
• Continuation of equalities support – the targets for work with equalities organisations helps to formalise support for this part of the sector, which has additional capacity building support requirements, and these should be retained.

The Issue of Early Stage Support and Development

6.34 Communicating and reinforcing the message that the business support offer available under Just Enterprise is for those who are capable of trading, and who are enterprise-ready, will have the advantage of more clearly marking the distinction between Just Enterprise and capacity building / pre-enterprise support. Just Enterprise, with the exception of some specific provision for Black and Minority Ethnic organisations via CEMVO, does not support capacity building.

6.35 That said, there appears to be the need for greater levels of enterprise capacity building, however this is delivered. This is a key role for Third Sector Interfaces / SENs and other Third Sector Intermediaries. Enhancing this activity will increase the demand for Just Enterprise support, and improve the quality of application.

Service Skills Development and Training

6.36 The consortium has built considerable skills and capacity over time, and this should not be ignored. However, this has largely been a result of the continuation of the service, and the ability of partners to build adviser skills through delivering the service. A more planned and systematic approach to skills development amongst advisers may be appropriate.

6.37 This approach could take many forms, however it could usefully involve a consortium adviser skills audit, mapped against likely future demand (see below), with any skills gaps filled. Ongoing continuous skills refresh and training could form part of any future contract activity. There may also need to be an increase in the number of advisers, to meet need. There could also be common training and accreditation covering Just Enterprise advisers and social enterprise specialists within Business Gateway.

Planning for Demand

6.38 The Just Enterprise service is rightly demand-led, and the service has demonstrated the ability to respond to this demand. Nonetheless, this creates a reactive situation, and there may be instances where a more forward-looking and proactive approach can be adopted.

6.39 This is about putting in place a mechanism for horizon scanning, or however else this ‘looking ahead’ activity is best phrased. Member organisations have a role here, identifying legislative or other factors that may lead to an increase in demand in any given sector (e.g. Early Years). The Just Enterprise service can then better ensure it is capable of meeting this demand, for example by utilising external expertise, or developing in-house skills.

Refinements to Delivery Processes

6.40 Service delivery is largely effective, as demonstrated through the considerable service volumes. There are some modifications that may be helpful. These include:

• A greater recognition of the additional travel time to support social enterprises in rural areas – the travel time in rural areas can and often does reduce the adviser time with social enterprises, which currently comes out of the time allocation. A travel time allowance in rural areas should be built into the support budgets.
• A more open approach to data and information-sharing – Data Protection Act compliance should not be compromised, however there needs to be a better data-sharing and open communication, sometimes between delivery partners and between the consortium and external partners. Again, agencies need to be working together as much as possible, for the benefit of service beneficiaries / recipients.
• The potential for more online service delivery – this should not be overplayed, since this should not be a replacement for the valued one-to-one support. However, at very little cost, online resources can be assembled, and increasingly service beneficiaries are more proficient and amenable to these types of service delivery.

Service Flexibility

6.41 The Just Enterprise service has been flexible over the course of the successive contracts in responding to demand, and some of this has been generated from within the constraints of the contract. In seeking to be more flexible still – and more forward looking – it may be appropriate to introduce an element of discretionary funding as part of the service.

6.42 A discretionary element could not be open-ended; however it may allow consortium partners to make the case for, and put in place the support for, specific additional service elements that respond to local demand, or demand around a theme. The Business Gateway service has a core offer, and a discretionary element to allow response to local economies and local contexts. Something similar may work for Just Enterprise.