Stimulating Demand High Growth Programme

As part of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF) programme in Birmingham funding was allocated aimed at increasing the city’s economic output and productivity, as well as mitigating against the impacts of the recession on the business community.

Stimulating Demand High Growth Programme – Now Closed

The Stimulating Demand High Growth Programme offered free mentoring and business development through a combination of workshops, peer group sessions and one‐to‐one mentoring for businesses in Birmingham identified as having high growth potential.

The project was completed in March 2011.

An independent external evaluation was carried out by Consulting In Place.

In March 2011 it reported the following:-

“The project was built on tried and tested models of support, which contributed to its successful delivery. The project was well managed, which included regular communication with the delivery partners who were involved in all aspects of the project. “

“The project offered a high quality of service, with the quality of the speakers and the knowledge of mentors in High Growth Programme praised as being particularly noteworthy. The High Growth project strand achieved its target of supporting 90 businesses, with many of them receiving in excess of the targeted 15 hours of support, and some receiving 50‐60 hours over the lifetime of the project.”

“The evidence collected through a beneficiary survey allowed the Evaluation to calculate the impact of the High Growth programme in terms of additional GVA and employment.”

The headline figures for this were:

Accounting for persistence effects, total additional GVA of around £2.25m

Including these persistence effects, for every £1 of High Growth spend, £4.57 ofadditional benefits were generated

Almost 60 jobs were safeguarded and 75 jobs created as a result of the support from the High Growth Programme.

A number of other impacts of the project were evidenced through the research. These included improved business strategies, safeguarding businesses against the recession, the accelerated growth of businesses and the increased likelihood of future uptake of business support.

For details of the current Enterprise City High Growth Programme, follow the link below:

Enterprise City High Growth Programme