Annual Report

The Enterprise Agency for Wear Valley & Teesdale
Agency Report December 2007 – December 2008

Chairman’s Report
The world of business support is ever changing and evolving. Many of the changes originate at national or regional level and as an organisation we have a limited ability to influence change. While we have had to cope with major changes that effect both our service delivery and our ability to earn income we have to acknowledge that this year has been extremely challenging for the businesses we support, due to the economic downturn and the difficulty in accessing the levels of finance that businesses need to maintain a healthy cash flow. It is likely that this situation will remain the same well into 2009 and, therefore, we need to work with partners at both regional and sub regional levels to enable us to provide access to a range of services and levels of support which meet the changing needs of business.

The Review of local government structure will result in the loss of the District Councils and the formation of a new Unitary Authority for Co. Durham. The Agency, by its very nature, has a clear focus on local service delivery working in partnership with both Wear Valley and Teesdale District Councils. From April 2009 the new Unitary Authority will be in place and we are working with officers and members of the new organisation to define the role of the Agencies in terms of future service delivery. As the situation stands, we are able to contribute to developing the service delivery model for Co. Durham through our Board Members and through Enterprise Agency representation at various working groups and networks. Indeed, our private sector Board Members have a more strategic role to play in providing links between the public and private sectors, as well as a leadership role in ensuring that the public sector provides relevant help and support to business.

The Agency has been active in support of new business start-ups through both LEGI and Business & Enterprise North East funded projects. Additionally, we have developed an employer engagement model that provides direct support to new employers and is complimented by supply chain and business development opportunities which link well into mainstream support. Our future service delivery will be underpinned by the introduction of the Enterprise Forum that will provide an opportunity for local businesses to communicate and raise awareness of new opportunities.

In summary, it has been both a busy and successful year for the Agency, its staff and board members. We can confidently expect next year to be at least as busy as this year, with the outcome of the strategic review coming to fruition as well as the anticipated increase in engagement with businesses coming to terms with a volatile economic climate.

It remains for me to place on record my thanks to the staff and fellow board members, for their contributions for all the good work that has taken place. Further, that it is from a position of strength and optimism that we face an uncertain future where once again that The Enterprise Agency Wear Valley and Teesdale will be at centre stage for business support and development.

Rob Yorke
Chairman

The Enterprise Agency for Wear Valley & Teesdale
Agency Report December 2007 – December 2008

Chief Executive's Report

2008 has been another significant year for the Enterprise Agency. The practical implications of changing national policy around the delivery of business support are now being woven into the our economic strategies, while the model for the delivery of business support in Co. Durham is still under development. While these structural changes at the county level will have a real impact on local service delivery, it is important that the Agency (Enterprise Agencies) is identified as an organization who has a key role to play both developing services and strategic delivery. The Chairman and I proposed a delivery model which clearly positions the Agency for this role, however there has been no indication of the Unitary Authority’s preferences.

The year started with a proposal from Wear Valley District Council to gift Innovation House to the Agency, and much work has been done throughout the year to ensure the transfer is managed effectively. I would like to acknowledge the work of the Chairman and Councillor Geoff Mowbray and also Bob Hope and Sue Dawson for their support for the project, it is a massive vote of confidence in the Agency and the future income from Innovation House will underpin future service delivery.

With the official opening of Innovation House came the Agency DVD, which gave us a unique opportunity to promote the services of the Agency but also to acknowledge our partner organizations. We were fortunate to secure the services of Sir John Hall for the DVD, his vision for the north east and his passion for business were both evident and inspiring, and his introduction to the Agency will hopefully help us to work with the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

Again, our ability to innovate and design and deliver a range of services which meet the needs of our stakeholders has helped us to deliver a projects ranging from employer engagement, supply chain, business development, work with retailers through the Barnard Castle Vision and the Fastest 50 project. Sadly a major piece of work towards the end of the year was a redundancy package at a local company who were losing about 180 jobs, given the economic situation it’s likely that there will be more of this type of work over the next 12 months. Against this background we are preparing a campaign to contact local businesses to raise awareness of the help & support available in these difficult times

Following last years National Federation of Enterprise Agencies Award for our Outreach Programmes, we received a second award this year for our rural work. This years award acknowledges the investment we maintained in delivering services on a much restricted budget and the time we spent securing the Leader Project which will provide opportunities to introduce a new range of projects with a clear focus on rural and micro enterprise development. More recently, our use of ICT has been acknowledged by the NE Regional Portal Company as being exemplary.

The year is ending on real high, we have just gone live with our Enterprise Forum, an online site for local businesses to communicate, we see the Forum as a key part of our future service delivery and it also provides a link between the private and the public sector. The Forum will provide a social and networking opportunity for home based businesses and will be supported through events and services, we plan to launch the Forum officially in January during a visit by Margaret Faye, Chairman of ONE.

The Agency recently hosted An Audience with …… an event which provided local businesses with an opportunity to question our local politicians, the Bank of England, the RDA, Business Link and the Bishop of Durham on the current economic climate. The event was well received and again raised the profile of the Agency.

I would like to acknowledge the personal support of the Chairman and also the work of the Board of Directors. The Board give us their time, knowledge and experience in developing strategy and policy and represent the views of local business. I would also like to acknowledge the support of our local authorities in Wear Valley and Teesdale at both officer and member level. Finally I would like to acknowledge the contribution of our staff team, their efforts and enthusiasm, the work they have undertaken and the range of projects delivered. I believe that we have a very strong team in the Agency and working with the Board we have every reason to be optimistic about the future.

Shaun Stuart
Chief Executive