Evaluation of support to Account and Client Managed companies - final report to Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire

The support provided to Account Management and Client Management companies by SE Lanarkshire aimed to ‘segment’ the market and identify the companies most able to derive advantage from SE Lanarkshire support, delivering the best return to the limited resources available. The evaluation aimed to assess the approach to segmenting the market, how well the Account and Client Management approach is working, and the contribution of each of the individual programmes.

The methodology consisted of 29 face-to-face interviews with Account Managed companies (20% sample) and 30 telephone interviews with Client Managed companies (30% sample).

Concludes that the Account Management approach to business development in Lanarkshire has enhanced the delivery of business support services and should be continued. Cost effectiveness has been improved in comparison with previous, less targeted forms of support. 1,140 net jobs have been created so far among the 250 or so Account Managed and Client Managed companies. The allocation of companies to segments is well embedded and, in the great majority of cases, companies have been put into the correct market segments. Notes there is great value in the Growing Business Review and in the Action Plan. Highlights that the pressure on Account Managers is increasing and they have limited time to reflect on how the approach might be improved.

SE Lanarkshire should consider: regularly reviewing the portfolio of Account Managed and Client Managed companies; how the shape of the Account Management relationship with long standing client companies might change; why intervention in companies rarely focuses on more technical matters; whether there is a need to promote more cross referrals between Account Management and Technological Innovation support; ensuring that the positive motivation for promoting individual programmes to companies remains paramount; and viewing the individual company as a project. Advises that Account Managers should be allowed to research the task of company development, by: creating a backup research resource; increasing the number of Account Managers; reducing the number of Account Managed companies; or reducing the level of support to some companies.