Impact assessment of the Trade Missions and Business Seminars to Central European Markets and Israel

Business Gateway International Lothian (BGI Lothian) is the arm of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian (SEEL) concerned with supporting SMEs to increase their international trade. This initiative encouraged overseas trade with Central European countries and Israel, through trade missions and business seminars. The evaluation aimed to assess the overall impact of the missions and seminars.

Feedback from clients was gathered via an electronic survey, stakeholders’ views were gathered through one-to-one consultations and a review of relevant documents was undertaken.

The following conclusions were made: overall, the trade missions were considered to be an important and useful mechanism for the development of international trade; BGI Lothian demonstrated a high standard of organisation; participants were very satisfied with the levels of service received on the missions; a good level of additionality was achieved overall, with participating businesses spurred on to investigate new markets and opportunities; understanding and attitudes towards new business opportunities were improved; and, where companies did not pursue new business opportunities, they acknowledged that their decision not to do so was fully informed by their new understanding.

It was recommended that: BGI Lothian continue to develop the overseas mission programme; the objectives of the networking opportunities be communicated and the expectations of participants prior to missions established; and that an annual impact assessment of the missions be undertaken in future.