Research, evaluation and insight

E-business support in Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire (SEA), channelled through the E-Business Demonstration Centre (E-BDC), aimed to address the lag between e-adoption in Ayrshire and the rest of Scotland.

E-business advisory support is provided by Enterprise North-East Trust (E-Net), under the Scottish Enterprise Grampian Business Gateway service.

The Edinburgh Waterfront Recruitment Centre (EWRC) was established to link employment opportunities generated through the waterfront development to the need for jobs amongst local people in North Edinburgh and Leith.

The e-Learninternational 2004 project involved the design, development and hosting of an international e-learning Conference and Awards in February 2004.

The Employee Lifeskills programme aimed to support: the growth of the Ayrshire economy by raising employees’ knowledge and skill levels, thereby increasing their flexibility, and improving their future employment prospects; and employers by contributing up to a maximum of 50% of the direct training costs of non-legislative employee training.

The conference, on 20th December 2003, aimed to demonstrate SE and Careers Scotland’s commitment and support for enterprise for all people in Scotland with a disability.

The evaluation examined the development of the high quality business site at Faulds Park, Gourock.

Food Forum West (FFW) is an industry forum for organisations associated with the food and drink manufacturing sector, led by Scottish Enterprise (SE) Renfrewshire and delivered in partnership with SE Ayrshire, SE Forth Valley and SE Lanarkshire as part of the SE Network Food and Drink Cluster Action Plan.

The Forth Valley Education Business Partnership (FVEBP) aimed to: provide a keener awareness among school pupils and students of the demands and opportunities of the workplace; develop a greater understanding of the changing world of work among teachers; and raise understanding in the employing community of how schools and colleges have been developing and changing.

The Globalscot network aims to harness the knowledge, expertise, skills, goodwill and contacts of Scots (and those with an affinity for Scotland) across the globe in support of Scottish companies and organisations.

The Grampian Film Office (GFO) was set up in 2004 in order to address market failures in relation to the TV and film industry in Grampian.

The High Growth Development Project, part funded by the EDRF under the South of Scotland Objective2, 2000-2006 programme, aimed to provide consultancy advice and information, and access to funding and networks to companies in the Scottish Borders.

Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire's (SEL's) High Growth Start-up Service, whose main delivery mechanism was the High Growth Incubation Centre, aimed to provide tailored, enhanced support to prospective businesses that were believed to have the greatest chance of meeting the SE Network’s high growth criteria.

The High-Growth Start-Ups (HGSU) programme was designed to provide various methods of assistance and support to eligible 'high growth' businesses in Fife.

The Hillington Park Innovation Centre (HPIC), jointly run by Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire (SER) and Caledonian Land, aimed to provide high quality business start-up and incubation space for firms deemed to be ‘innovative’, thereby growing the number of innovative / technology firms in Renfrewshire and attracting different types of firms to Hillington.

The Exchange, including Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), aimed to address weaknesses in Edinburgh’s economic infrastructure, maximise the commercial development area, and provide a prominent city landmark.

The aim of the evaluation was to estimate the economic impact to the Borders of hosting four fixtures from the International Rugby Board Under 21 World Championship, what lessons could be learned to assist in the hosting of future similar events and how the facilities and experiences at the ground in Galashiels compared with other matches held elsewhere in Scotland.

Through a series of workshops, audits, specialist support services, student placements and interaction with Heriot Watt University, the Innovation and Technology Initiative (Innovatech) aimed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to: adopt new technologies; exploit and protect intellectual assets; adopt a culture of innovation; and strengthen their links to academia.

The Innovation Support Programme (ISP) aimed to encourage and support innovation within the Lanarkshire business community.

SEL’s range of internationalisation support programmes aimed to assist and encourage firms to overcome the relatively high risk they perceive when considering entry to a new international market.

Inward investment aimed to help address job losses within traditional industries in the Forth Valley by attracting foreign direct investment and mobile investment from indigenous companies.

In North Ayrshire, Joblink aimed to improve access to training for Training for Work (TfW) clients and the Adult Training and Recruitment Credit (ARTC) pilot aimed to provide financial and training support to employers and clients when they exit training and enter employment.

The Lanarkshire Branding and Communication Project (LBCP) was created with the aim of changing negative perceptions of Lanarkshire and promoting the area as a place to live, work and invest.

The Lanarkshire Strategic Tourism Marketing Project (LSTMP) was created with the aim of raising Lanarkshire's profile to visitors, challenging negative perceptions and raising awareness of the area's tourism product.

The ‘Corporate Leadership’ MSc and the ‘Emerging Executives’ programme aimed to develop leaders to be successful in the current and future business climate and contribute to the SE Strategic Objective of creating growing businesses with an innovative and far-sighted culture.