Research, evaluation and insight

Tourism Training Scotland (TTS), a joint industry / public sector forum, aimed to: create a training culture among tourism businesses and their staff; enhance professional standards and the status of jobs in the industry; and improve access to quality training.

The University to SME Technology Transfer in Opto and Microelectronics (TTOM) project aims to promote greater collaboration between universities and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

This evaluation provides an interim report on the Wireless Innovation (WI) Centre (part of a joint evaluation of the Hillington Park Innovation Centre) which was designed to offer Scottish companies access to a wireless infrastructure.

The Women into Business (WIB) project runs workshops and networking events within Edinburgh and Lothian.

The local authority-run learning centre in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, which offers practical careers advice, was evaluated.

The Lowland Scotland LEADER II programme aimed to promote local development and prioritise activities that met the LEADER II criteria of innovation, demonstrable and transferable.

The Expert Help programme was designed to stimulate product and process innovation by raising the level of competence and technical ability in SMEs, and increasing SME awareness of the importance of using external technical advice.

The My Futures in Falkirk (MFIF) programme aimed to provide a strategic approach to re-engineering Falkirk’s economy, with a view to diversifying into new sectors and reducing dependence on a small number of large employers.

The Falkirk Community Urban Regeneration Programme (CURP) aimed to: alleviate poverty by increasing income and access to employment and education; reduce the risk to health and safety of communities and individuals; develop appropriate community infrastructure; and remove barriers to individuals reaching their potential.

The Farm Venture project aimed to assist groups of farmers develop ideas from which new ventures could be established on a collaborative basis in order to: provide the participants with another source of income and a reason to stay on the farm; help secure the future of the farm business; and stimulate enterprise in the Borders countryside.

Scottish Enterprise (SE) Borders received funding from the Construction Skills Action Plan Innovation Fund to: carry out training needs analyses with local construction companies for the development of training plans; establish a local construction training group; and raise awareness of careers in the construction industry among local school pupils and unemployed people.

The Courseware Library Project aimed to encourage employers and training providers to become learning organisations, and introduce employers and learners to new learning technologies.

Scottish Enterprise Borders (SEB) commissioned an interim and final evaluation of Skills for the Future, its workforce development programme for small and medium sized businesses in the Borders area which assists firms to identify, prioritise and take up appropriate training linked to business growth objectives.

Scottish Enterprise (SE) Forth Valley ran the Environmental Services Programme (ESP) from 2002 to 2008 with the aim of involving local SMEs in activities which would reduce their impact on the environment while increasing profitability.

The Lanarkshire Enterprise Zone (EZ) aimed to ‘achieve economic regeneration by attracting inward investment and facilitating creation of 7,500 new jobs to Lanarkshire’, as well as preparing 173 ha of land for development.

Glasgow’s Business Efficiency Initiative (GBEI) and Lean Management Thinking (LMT) includes the following programmes: Lean Management Thinking (LMT); Innovation and New Product Development (NPD); and Environmental Audits/support to achieve ISO 14001.

The Leadership Development Programme (LDP) and Developing Managers of the Future (DMF) programme were run as part of Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire’s (SE Ayrshire) Growing Business goal, to offer a comprehensive business support service to SMEs in the area of management and leadership development.

Scottish Enterprise (SE) Ayrshire’s New Product Development (NPD) / Expert Help Programme aimed to deal with shortfalls in knowledge and skills and encourage innovation by tackling the barrier of financial risk associated with investment in Research and Development (R & D).

Resource Efficiency Environmental Forum (REEF), a web based club, focused on topics such as environmental management, waste and energy management.

The overall aim of SE Ayrshire’s innovation related assistance activities was to promote a culture of innovation amongst organisations by: raising awareness of the importance of innovation and creativity; providing opportunities to learn from world class experts in innovation and creativity; providing support to reduce cultural barriers to innovation; and increasing levels of innovation and creativity skills.

Arbroath Employment and Training Initiative, run by Claverhouse, aimed to: provide a range of activities for long term unemployed residents to enhance employability; identify suitable job vacancies in the area for clients; and match clients to these vacancies thereby helping both employers and the unemployed.

The Financial Services Access to Call Centre project was a pilot, stand-alone project which aimed to raise awareness of job opportunities in and increase the pool of skilled labour for financial services call centres in the Edinburgh and Coatbridge areas.

In response to anecdotal evidence of local recruitment problems, the evaluation aimed to: assess the extent of recruitment and retention issues among Tayside food and drink manufacturers; determine the nature and extent of skill shortages and hard-to-fill vacancies; evaluate the impact of those skill shortages on business performance; identify the existence of market failure issues and assess the rationale for public sector intervention; examine potential sources of suitable labour in both loca…

Scottish Enterprise Grampian launched a food production efficiency programme with six Grampian food and drink companies in 1998, the aim of which was to encourage companies to assess and amend their manufacturing processes for maximum efficiency, thereby increasing profitability.

The Food Sector New Product Development (NPD) programme aimed to provide training, advice and guidance to businesses in the food sector and to establish a systematic process for NPD and a greater understanding of the NPD process.