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Research, evaluation and insight

Search our publicly accessible collection of evaluation and research reports. These reports cover all aspects of Scottish Enterprise's economic development activities and are available for download at no cost.

  • Identifying the 'gap' in business support: data analysis (2011)

    The report aimed to explore whether there is a significant 'service gap' in business support between Scottish Enterprise (SE)/Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Business Gateway.
    Ekosgen
    Research
    Company specific
    Supporting key sectors
    Sector-level support
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • Evaluation of the Commercial Breakthrough Service (2011)

    The Commercial Breakthrough Service aimed to address observed weakness in sales and marketing skills amongst technology-based firms and specialist service companies in Scotland.
    O'Herlihy and Co Ltd
    Evaluation
    Sector-level support
    Support to existing/growth businesses
    Commercialisation
  • Longitudinal national evaluation of CompeteFor: interim evaluation (2011)

    The CompeteFor (CFOR) free service consisted of three interventions: a web-based Electronic Brokerage System (EBS), to ensure that all members of the UK’s business community had access to, and could compete for, Olympics business opportunities; the Supplier Engagement Programme, which aimed to promote awareness of 2012 Olympic contract opportunities and maximise the number of businesses, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), registering and proceeding to publish their pr…
    The Evaluation Partnership; OMB Research; Mark Hart, Aston Business School; Stephen Roper, Warwick Business School
    Evaluation
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • Evaluation of SE funded pre commercial research projects: the Commercialisation Awards (2011)

    The Commercialisation Awards (CAs) were small scale grants made available to the University of Dundee and the Scottish Crop Research Institute to take forward a specific piece of research with commercial potential.
    Ekosgen
    Evaluation
    Digital markets and enabling technologies
    Life Sciences
    Commercialisation
  • Evaluation of SE funded pre commercial research projects: the Stem Cell Translational Fund (2011)

    The Stem Cell Translational Fund (SCTF) is a ring fenced £5 million fund established by Scottish Enterprise (SE) to match fund translational stem cell activity.
    Ekosgen
    Evaluation
    Commercialisation
    Life Sciences
  • Evaluation of the Improvement Programme: final report (2009)

    The Improvement Programme, delivered by Investors in People (IIP) Scotland, offered a structured approach for business improvement for small to medium sized businesses, which aimed to stimulate and challenge businesses to improve performance and to maximise the potential of their staff.
    Frontline Consultants
    Evaluation
    Support to existing/growth businesses
    Skills Development
  • The economic impact of Edinburgh Airport (2009)

    The study was commissioned to assess the economic impact of Edinburgh Airport and its growth plans, considering the airport’s current and future importance to the Edinburgh City Region and to Scotland as a whole.
    York Aviation
    Research
  • Evaluation of Textiles Technology Facilitator Service: final report (2011)

    The Textile Technology Facilitator Service (TTFS), a Scottish Enterprise (SE) funded programme launched in February 2009, provided innovation and research and development (R&D) support to the technical textiles sector.
    Ekosgen
    Evaluation
    Textiles
  • Evaluation of the Saltire Foundation project: final report (2011)

    The Saltire Foundation project aimed to grow the entrepreneurial capabilities of future Scottish business leaders and address weaknesses in sales and marketing capability of Scottish high growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enable them to compete effectively in the global marketplace.
    O’Herlihy and Co Ltd
    Evaluation
    Internationalisation of Scottish businesses
  • Scottish Construction Centre evaluation (2011)

    The Scottish Construction Centre (SCC) was launched in 2007 in response to the 2003 ‘Achieving Construction Innovation and Excellence in Scotland’ report and the recommendations of the Modernising Construction Strategic Group.
    GEN Consulting
    Evaluation
    Supporting key sectors
    Construction
  • Review of Scotland Europa EU R&D Funding Service (2011)

    Scotland Europa’s European Union (EU) Research and Development (R&D) Funding Support Service was launched in 2009 in order to stimulate wider engagement of Scottish organisations in the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for R&D, and ultimately, to generate economic impacts for Scotland.
    EKOS Ltd
    Evaluation
    Business innovation
  • International strategic workshop/general strategic workshop: final review report (Business product review) (2010)

    The General Strategy Workshop (GSW) and the International Strategy Workshop (ISW) are delivered to relationship managed companies within Scottish Enterprise’s (SE’s) Strategic Development Intervention Framework.
    Malcolm Watson Consulting
    Research
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • Investor readiness support: final review report (Business product review) (2011)

    The Investor Readiness Support (IRS) product, within Scottish Enterprise's Strategic Development Intervention Framework, and delivered to relationship-managed and other growth companies, aimed to help businesses raise capital for growth.
    Malcolm Watson Consulting
    Research
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • Project support products: final review report (Business product review) (2011)

    The report presents the findings of a review of six Project Support Projects (PSPs) offered by Scottish Enterprise (SE) to client businesses: Business Efficiency Project Support; ICT Project Support (ICTPS); Management Development Project Support; Organisational Development Project Support (ODPS); Market Development Project Support; and Strategy Development Project Support.
    Malcolm Watson Consulting
    Research
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • Sales and Marketing Programme: final review report (Business product review) (2010)

    The Sales and Marketing Programme (SAM) Product, delivered to relationship managed companies within Scottish Enterprise’s (SE’s) Market Development Intervention Framework, aimed to embed the ability to carry out effective sales and marketing strategy, planning, management and practice in individuals with operational responsibility for sales and marketing in growth companies.
    Malcolm Watson Consulting
    Research
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • Evaluation of the International Energy Skills and Training Alliance (IESTA) (2011)

    The International Energy Skills and Training Alliance (IESTA) was formed by Scottish Enterprise (SE) in 2008 in recognition of the value and potential of the energy training market.
    Ekosgen
    Evaluation
    Energy
    Skills Development
  • Developing SE destination monitoring and baseline measurement (2010)

    This report follows on from an initial 2007 baseline report covering six key tourism destinations, which set out a series of indicators and guidance on how to assess changes in tourism activity and provided baseline values for a number of key core indicators.
    SQW Consulting
    Research
    Supporting key sectors
    Tourism
  • Evaluation of Nexxus (2011)

    Nexxus was first launched in 2003 within the West of Scotland as a Life Sciences (LS) networking organisation.
    SQW Consulting
    Evaluation
    Supporting key sectors
    Life Sciences
  • Tourism Destination Development: interim evaluation & assessment of future growth potential (2011)

    The Scottish Enterprise (SE) Tourism Destination Development Strategy was approved in early 2008, with the aim of maximising the contribution that the six key tourism destinations in the SE area (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Highland Perthshire, Cairngorms/Royal Deeside and St Andrews) can make to the 50% revenue growth target set out in the tourism industry strategy.
    EKOS Ltd
    Evaluation
    Supporting key sectors
    Tourism
  • Informing decisions: road-testing SE's Carbon Impact Assessment Tool (2011)

    This report summarises the outputs from a ‘road-test’ and review of Scottish Enterprise’s (SE’s) Carbon Impact Assessment (CIA) tools.
    MVA Consultancy
    Research
    Sustainable development
  • Networks: a best practice guide (2011)

    The role of networking is viewed as a useful tool in allowing businesses to explore new ideas, find new customers and suppliers and share knowledge and collaborate.
    EKOS Limited
    Research
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • SE networks literature review (2011)

    The research aimed to review the literature on the effectiveness of networks, following on from a 2009 SE internal survey and literature review.
    EKOS Limited
    Research
    Support to existing/growth businesses
  • An assessment of golf tourism’s future growth potential to 2020 (2011)

    This report presents forecasts for the volume and value of golf tourism from 2010 to 2015 and then to 2020.
    SQW Consulting
    Research
    Tourism
  • TalentScotland research findings (2011)

    TalentScotland is a joint project involving the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise (SE), Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Development International.
    George Street Research; Frontline Consultants
    Research
    Supporting key sectors
    Digital markets and enabling technologies
    People/talent attraction
    Skills Development
  • <£100,000 R&D Grant and Innovation Support Grant evaluation (2010)

    Scottish Enterprise’s (SE’s) below £100,000 R&D Grant and Innovation Support Grant (ISG) are aimed at increasing R&D and innovation activity in the Scottish company base.
    Frontline Consultants
    Evaluation
    Support to existing/growth businesses

Impact appraisal and evaluation guidance

Read our impact appraisal and evaluation guidance to learn more about how we create these reports.

This guidance helps us ensure that any impact assessment for our projects and programmes uses consistent methodologies and is undertaken in a transparent way.

The full guidance is available as a PDF.