Delivering results

We deliver results by combining high impact, tailored solutions, experience and value for money.

The business support services we have successfully delivered covers fields such as growth, environmental efficiency, exporting, rural and social enterprise support.

Our unique approach means that we deliver against our KPI’s while ensuring we focus on our stakeholder’s needs. We have an excellent track record thanks to the way we work in partnership with our funders, who have included: South West RDA, ERDF Convergence and Competitiveness, UK Trade and Investment, DEFRA, RDPE and DWP.

With our vast experience of delivering contracts we have gained an understanding of our funders needs, and the appreciation that we need to constantly strive for improvements in the service we offer to our end users and contractors. To achieve this, we invest in our skills, capabilities, partnerships and new technologies, continually strengthening our performance.

In the last 5 years we have:

  • Provided invaluable assistance to businesses in the South West 273,451 times
  • A further 29,819 people have contacted us seeking advice for starting a business in the area.
  • 14,477 individual businesses have received at least 2 hours of business support from an adviser.
  • Which has assisted those businesses to generate over £1.4m in additional sales and create over 29,000 jobs.

We currently deliver the following contracts:

  • Improve your resource efficiency supporting businesses in Devon and Somerset to become more energy efficient through ERDF Competitiveness funding. Along with the provision of special advisers to enable businesses to make positive environmental changes, we delivered awareness raising activity and in-depth workshops. For more information please email us or call 0845 608 2323
  • Rural Focus
    • Rural IDB Service offers information, diagnosis and brokerage to rural businesses. The programme includes dedicated marketing and events, online advisers, and advisers working with businesses to produce action plans which address growth issues.
    • Resource efficiency for farmers (R4F) utilises RDPE funding to assist farmers and land based businesses maximise productivity through efficient use of input resources.

      • For more information visit www.ruralfocus.info email us or call 08456 047 047

  • UKTI Internationalisation
    • Convergence is designed to produce significant economic impact through a fully integrated approach to the promotion of international trade and foreign direct investment, in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. Funded by Convergence, the programme provides businesses with an enhanced international trade business support service.
    • Competitiveness aims to support a step change in the international performance of companies located in the Competitiveness area and in parallel, attract international investment to support economic development in the area.

      • For more information visit www.ukti.gov.uk and www.exportcornwall.co.uk or email us or call 01752 759897.

  • Social Enterprise support in Plymouth and Torbay, under sub contract, providing specialist marketing, outreach & facilitation and Social Enterprise business support.
  • Queens Awards providing technical assessment of applications for four Award categories. Generating a shortlist of the best applications for each Award which then goes before the judging panel. Feedback is given to every applicant and particularly for those organisations that have missed on an Award but have demonstrated promise.
  • Team Southwest , Peninsula Enterprise has been working in close partnership with Team Southwest to support businesses in the region in getting ready for the opportunities the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games present. Activities have included regular information sharing to businesses including upcoming bid opportunities, hosting a series of Business Ready events, support for venues wishing to become pre game training camps and additional events for the tourism and hospitality sectors.
  • Networking for Innovation (iNets) supports businesses in turning ideas into products and services by providing access to specialist information and research, linking businesses to new markets and through sharing knowledge and expertise. £13 million of funding from the SW RDA, ERDF and partner investments. From mid 2010 to 2013. There are five established iNets supporting key business sectors in the SW: Aerospace & Advanced Engineering, BioMedical, Creative Industries, Environmental Technologies and Microelectronics. For more information visit www.inets-sw.co.uk

We have successfully delivered the following contacts:

  • Business Link supporting businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Somerset with information, diagnosis and brokerage.
  • Enhanced Business Link services supporting high growth and growth potential businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly through ERDF Convergence funding, and in Devon and Somerset through ERDF Competitiveness funding. We provided in-depth support from dedicated growth advisers, who created bespoke action plans and access to a range of assistance methods. Our development voucher scheme supported investment from the private sector, and our highly evolved diagnostic ensured that the support we provided achieved significant impact for the local economy.
  • South West Rural Enterprise Gateway provided support to help rural and land based businesses adapt to change and become more competitive in the future. Funded by RDPE, the service gives businesses the information, knowledge, diagnosis and brokerage they needed to find solutions in a rapidly changing environment. The programme assisted over 1,400 to June 2010, and many aspects have been replicated across England.
  • Skills brokerage is an integrated Business Link service which specifically addresses leadership, management and skills. In 2009/10 the service assisted 965 businesses with customer satisfaction of 94.6%, making it the South West the highest performing region.
  • Envirowise in Scotland and Wales, Peninsula Enterprise provides environmental marketing, events and communications to support the delivery of online and face to face advice. Designed to stimulate increased knowledge of resource efficiency techniques and commercial benefits, the approach has targeted the construction sector and it's supply chain.
  • DWP Self employment scheme supporting the long term unemployed who are considering starting their own business in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Somerset. the scheme supported an enhanced range of measures to support the 6 month unemployed group and help overcome barriers they face.