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Mentoring success for North East company Blue Kangaroo

Since Blue Kangaroo was founded 10 years ago, the creative agency has secured contracts with clients including Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm, resulting in a period of rapid growth for the business.

Blue Kangaroo works with global entertainment brands on product design, packaging, brand development and retail concepts.

The company’s growth began following a business trip to the USA three years ago, after Managing Director Jason Knights identified a number of opportunities to work directly with the head offices of USA-based clients including Disney.

Jason told us more about why he believes that working with a mentor can add value and benefit a business:

I’m a huge advocate of mentoring. Running a growing business can be a lonely place to be. When you start to see growth it can be a big jump to reach the next level and that’s when you need the support of people who can help and advise you.

I’ve worked with the same mentor for 10 years now and we speak nearly every day. We’re good friends and although we work in completely different industries I can still turn to him for advice when I need it.”

It’s important to find a mentor who you trust and can be open with, but once you’ve found that person it’s invaluable to have someone who’s not involved in your business day to day but who can give you the benefit of their opinion and experience.

I honestly think everyone should give it a try.

If you’ve got the experience of growing a business and are thinking of being a mentor, do it,” said Jason. “It’s just as rewarding to be a mentor as it is to grow your own business.

The North East LEP aims to increase the number of business in the region which make use of mentoring through its recently launched Growth through Mentoring programme. The programme matches business owners with experienced mentors who can help guide them through the journey of scaling up their company.

 Find out more about how mentoring could help you grow your business.

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Scale-up support on offer to SMEs at Growth Hub Goes Live event

Business owners and SMEs in the North East are invited to attend the latest in a new series of events supporting the region’s businesses to scale up.

Part of our ‘Growth Hub Goes Live’ programme, the event on Thursday 23 March will focus on growing, retaining and maintaining customers using digital technology.

The practical, hands on event at the SME Centre of Excellence, at Newcastle College, will include group work, idea sharing and a keynote address by Nevil Tynemouth and Mike Lever, directors of New Results Training in Durham. New Results provide training, coaching, mentoring and strategic support for a range of companies locally and nationally,

“We’ll be exploring how to use, grow and manage digital technology and how it can be of huge benefit to companies,” explained New Results Director Nevil Tynemouth.

“The aim is to help the companies integrate digital technology seamlessly into their businesses, so that it becomes an everyday activity. The workshop will involve a keynote talk and then some group work with myself and fellow New Results Director Mike Lever. We’ll leave the businesses with some key actions which will help them integrate digital technology into their companies.

“With such flexible and powerful technologies around, it’s vital they’re not overlooked when planning business growth. This event is about understanding how digital technology can support and add value to existing sales practices and create stronger links with customers,” added Nevil.

Growth Hub Goes Live is an events programme delivered as part of the North East Growth Hub (www.northeastgrowthhub.co.uk), an online business growth platform for SMEs created and managed by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership.

business growth boardColin Bell, Business Growth Director at the North East LEP said: “While the Growth Hub is predominantly an online platform, we recognise the demand from our users for networking opportunities and the chance to hear from business leaders in the region.

“Growth Hub Goes Live is a fantastic way for people to experience what the Growth Hub can offer, everything from access to finance and funding to one the most comprehensive business support directories available in the North East.”

‘Growing, Retaining and Maintaining customers using digital technology’ takes place on Thursday 23 March at the SME Centre for Excellence. Tickets are free and can be booked via Eventbrite.

New Results have previously delivered similar workshops in London and in Lancashire, but this will be the first session they’ve delivered in the region.

New Results Training has more than 75 years of experience in coaching and training and delivers sales training locally, nationally and internationally. The company is based in the e-volve Business Centre at Rainton Bridge, Houghton-le-Spring.

Book your free place for the event now

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North East manufacturing scheme helping businesses to achieve multi-million pound growth

North East LEP scheme helps manufacturing businesses identify barriers to growth

A programme to help manufacturing businesses grow, launched in the summer of last year by the North East LEP has already provided growth support to a range of manufacturing SMEs, from a multi-million pound turnover printing business to a small new leisure wear business with high-growth potential.

The Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP) is aimed at helping manufacturers in the North East who want to grow their business. Experienced manufacturing business advisers work with senior management teams, using a holistic approach to business diagnostic and improvement, to identify how to improve performance across all areas of their operations.

DSM Fabrications, a £2m turnover business specialising in metal fabrication services, based in South Shields, participated in the programme. Working with experienced manufacturing business advisers, senior management were able to create a new plan for growth, identifying three key areas for the business to develop; sales and marketing, succession planning, and market positioning.

The MGP business adviser created a detailed plan for each of the areas of improvement. The plan included succession of the original owner from the business from the day-to-day running, recruitment of a business development manager and types of reward mechanisms, sales and marketing strategy to open up new markets and a list of ‘top ten’ potential clients.

David Gracie, Managing Director at DSM Fabrications said: “The experienced and specialist adviser we worked with from the Manufacturing Growth Programme provided us with the framework and time to step back and think what was required from a strategic point of view.
“The consultancy provided gave us clear advice on where we needed to target our attention as we look to grow the business further.”
The MGP pilot programme will run for another five months and aims to work with more than 80 businesses to create 160 new manufacturing jobs.

It forms part of the North East LEP’s strategic economic plan to foster growth within key sectors of the economy in order to create more and better jobs. The programme could be extended if the pilot proves successful.
The programme is delivered by business support firm BE Group and Improvement Architecture, a specialist business improvement consultancy.

Graham Sleep, founder and MD of Improvement Architecture, said: “Having worked with small and medium sized manufacturing businesses over many years our team has developed a good understanding of the common challenges they face, which can prevent them from reaching their true potential revenues and profit levels.
“We have been using a unique model to highlight relative strengths of the businesses we’re supporting, so they can become more competitive, productive and profitable.”
John Barnett, a member of the LEP’s Business Growth Board, said, “The programme is designed to stimulate the growth of manufacturing businesses across the North East through in-depth one-to-one guidance from manufacturing growth experts.
“I’d encourage any small and mid-sized North East manufacturing businesses with growth ambitions to get involved with this free programme to unlock their potential.
“Manufacturing capability lies at the heart of this region’s future economic prosperity and I am particularly pleased the LEP is investing in its development.”
If you are a North East manufacturer and want help to grow, visit www.ne-mgp.co.uk, to access this expert support.

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£9.7m in grant funding available for rural businesses through the Rural Development Programme for England

The latest round of grant funding from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area has been announced, with grant funding totalling £9.7m available to businesses in the food processing, tourism and rural business development sectors.

The RDPE provides funding for projects in England which create jobs and growth in the rural economy.

Applications are being sought for projects that will grow a business, create jobs or bring more money in to the rural economy. Grant funding can help pay for constructing or improving buildings, and buying new equipment and machinery.

Three grant funds are available: Rural Business Development Grants, Rural Tourism Infrastructure Grants and Food Processing Grants.

Rural business development grants will help fund the growth of small rural businesses, new or existing. This includes farmers who want to diversify in to non-agricultural activities.

Rural tourism infrastructure grants will help fund the costs of capital expenditure on tourism infrastructure. The aim is to support projects that will encourage more tourists to come, to stay longer, and to spend more money in rural areas.

Food processing grants will help fund food processing businesses to grow and create jobs. This is for food and drink processing businesses which process agricultural and horticultural products. Examples include meat, milk, grain and root vegetables. Fisheries projects are not eligible.

Colin Bell, Business Growth Director at the North East LEP, said: “The rural economy plays an important part in the region’s overall economic success and we would urge businesses to take this opportunity to access the funding available which will help to grow and develop their business.”

The capital grants, which will be made available from the Rural Payments Agency, will fund up to 40% of a project’s costs with the minimum grant amount being £35,000. This means that a project’s overall cost would need to be over £87,500 to be eligible for the funding. To be eligible for the grants, businesses must be located in the eligible rural areas of County Durham, Northumberland and Gateshead or within the North East Rural Growth Network boundary, (see map).

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership works closely with Government to ensure that the European Funding allocation is aligned to projects that help deliver the North East Strategic Economic Plan. Priority sectors are manufacturing and engineering, pharmaceuticals, food and drink, and knowledge intensive business services and creative businesses.

Three workshops will be held for businesses to find out more about the funds. These are planned for:-

Tuesday 14 February – Kirkley Hall, Northumberland
One workshop covering tourism grants and a separate workshop for rural business development and food processing grants.

Thursday 16 February – Durham County Hall, Durham
This workshop will cover food business development and food processing grants.

To book a place at any of these events, click here

There is no deadline for applicants as the calls are open until January 2018, although applications will be reviewed every three months.

Full details of the calls and guidance notes can be found: here

Applicants are invited to submit expressions of interest via email to[email protected]

The grants are funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), which is part of the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF).

The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) supports European policy on rural development. To this end, it finances rural development programmes across the Member States and the regions of the Union. Programmes are designed in cooperation between the European Commission and the Member States, taking into account the strategic guidelines for rural development policy adopted by the Council and the priorities laid down by national strategy plans.

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Development at Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate receives boost from Local Growth Fund

 

We have awarded funding to support the development of a new commercial business unit on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate through the Local Growth Fund.

UK Land Estates, which is leading the project to create 52,939 square feet (4,920 square metres) of new business space, has received £1,359,322 from the North East LEP’s Local Growth Fund that helps support economic asset and infrastructure projects across the North East LEP area.

The Intersect 19 project marks the first speculative development on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate since the 2008 recession.

Tim Witty, Development Director at UK Land Estates, said:

The development is fantastic news for Tyneside and the wider region. This high specification unit will offer 52,939 square feet of modern high bay manufacturing space with 9.8m eaves height, good power availability and the capability to provide 20t overhead craneage. UK Land Estates are keen to hear from businesses looking to grow their business in 2017.

Work will commence on site on 6 February with a target completion date of 1 September 2017.

The £220.4m Local Growth Fund, secured as part of the North East Growth Deal, supports the North East LEP’s delivery of the Strategic Economic Plan, which aims to create 100,000 more and better jobs by 2024.

David Land, Board Member of the North East LEP, said:

As one of the key employment sites identified in our Strategic Economic Plan, we’re delighted to be able to support this ambitious project that will encourage more manufacturing growth and job creation in North Tyneside.

Businesses in our region, particularly growing SMEs, are looking for new, state of-the-art facilities. By investing and developing in infrastructure we can help create more and better jobs for the North East.

Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate is strategically located in North Tyneside meaning it is well placed to serve manufacturers with supply chains north and south of the River Tyne. The major investments made in improvements to the local road network, including the dualled Tyne Tunnel and ongoing works to the A19/A1058 Coast Road junction, will ensure the estate continues to benefit from good accessibility to the wider North East region and beyond.

Over the past five years UK Land Estates has invested in excess of £6 million on a programme of refurbishments that have revitalised the estate.

UK Land Estates were advised by Tynemouth based Almere Consulting.  Tom Bailey, Managing Director of Almere Consulting, said:

We are tremendously appreciative of the support for the project that we’ve had from both North Tyneside Council and the North East LEP.

The Intersect 19 development at Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate is one of 11 new projects across the North East to receive investment from the Local Growth Fund in 2016/17.

 

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Government boosts North East’s Local Growth Fund allocation by further £49.7m

A £49.7 million allocation of Local Growth Funding from Government has taken the 2015-2021 total for the North East to £379.6 million.

The majority of the funding will be used as investment into the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) near Nissan, which will secure 5,200 jobs for the North East economy by 2027.

The IAMP is a 100-hectare site that bridges South Tyneside and Sunderland and aims to provide a world-class environment for high-tech industries and advanced manufacturing businesses on a site just north of Nissan’s existing manufacturing plant.
The IAMP will bring huge benefits for the North East Economy and will support and grow the established supply chain in the area.

The Park will significantly strengthen the region’s reputation as the UK’s automotive sector national hub and show case the smart specialisations skills of the North East and help increase the offer to inward investors.

Andrew Hodgson, North East Local Enterprise Partnership Chair, said: ‘This latest growth deal allows the North East LEP to invest and drive forward the delivery of the International Advanced Manufacturing Park. We will work with our local authority partners, North East Automotive Alliance and the private sector to deliver this vitally important scheme, which is of strategic importance not only for the North East, but for the UKs industrial strategy.’

“The Government has chosen not to back our full Local Growth Fund bid which is deeply disappointing and potentially damaging to our Strategic Economic Plan to grow the North East economy.

“Our LGF allocation gives us no scope to fund a range of projects which would have driven new growth and provided real impetus to business development – as well as giving the North East the chance to contribute more fully to the Government’s Northern Powerhouse agenda.”

There will also be a small allocation to fund a Business, Innovation and Skills Infrastructure programme which will support businesses seeking to grow and develop, and provide workers with the necessary facilities needed to improve their skills.

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Sarah Callender, Managing Director of Bdaily, gives her take on the Scale Up agenda

We have partnered with Bdaily, an online publisher of UK business news, to deliver the ‘Time to Talk Scale Ups’ webinar, taking place on 30 January 2017. Bdaily’s Managing Director Sarah Callender gave us her take on the scale up agenda:

 

The scale up agenda is fast becoming one of the hottest topics in business, with founders, investors, policymakers and other business leaders, fiercely debating how best to nurture and develop the UK’s scaleup landscape.

While entrepreneurial startups and founders play an important role in our economy, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that directing more of our funding and policy priorities towards the UK’s scaleup companies would actually provide a far greater economic benefit.

Scale ups, that is companies that have experienced at least 20% year-on-year turnover growth over the last three years and who employ more than ten people, have routinely been
shown to boost job creation, economic prosperity and productivity, both within their respective regions and across the UK as a whole.

According to the Scaleup Institute’s Scaleup Review 2016 , the North East contributed 208 companies to the UK’s total of 11,575 scale up businesses, providing over 36,000 jobs and boasting a combined turnover of £5bn.

This figure is certainly impressive, but the potential for more of the region’s businesses to grow their customer base and expand their operations into new international markets would be boosted immeasurably if there was a clearer understanding of the issue and how companies can make the jump.

This isn’t just about the region’s thriving tech and digital sector either. Our scale up companies are drawn from a wide array of sectors and industries, with firms in manufacturing, construction and transport just as likely to be undergoing rapid growth as those in the digital economy.

While it is clear that more needs to be done at a political level to provide more joined up support and advice, we at Bdaily also believe that more light needs to be shone on how high-growth companies plot their journey from plucky startup to thriving scaleup and beyond.

Which is why last year we launched our Scale up Spotlight series, providing an ongoing focus on the region’s scale up businesses, celebrating their successes and investigating what more
can be done to help the North East’s ambitious firms scale up.

With our upcoming ‘Time to Talk Scaleups’ webinar, our four-person panel of the region’s influencers, including the North East LEP’s Business Growth Director, Colin Bell, will explore the role the North East’s scale ups play in shaping our regional economy and how more of our firm’s can be supported in their ambitions to scale up.

As a high-growth business ourselves, who saw 27% growth in revenues last year, not only do we love being able to share the region’s success stories, but we are also able to benefit from and put into practice some of the advice and guidance we canvass every day from our North East peers too.

Effectively, their story is our story, and could potentially be the story of hundreds of the region’s businesses provided the right support and investment frameworks are put in place. Not to mention the fact that, with Brexit’s economic and political uncertainty set to continue for the foreseeable future, the outward looking and international focus of our scaleups will be crucial in shaping the UK, and the region’s, future economic growth outside of the European Union.

Bdaily’s ‘Time To talk Scale Ups Webinar’, delivered in partnership with the North East LEP, is taking place on 30th January between 2 and 3pm.

Sign up now

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First business mentor appointed to new Growth through Mentoring programme

The North East LEP’s new Growth through Mentoring programme has recruited its first high growth mentor.

Andrew Silver, a prominent North East business leader, will be paired with a business leader from a North East company who has ambitions to scale up their organisation.

Andrew said:

I’ve had the benefit of being mentored myself during my career and I know the value of having someone external to your organisation, who has the experience of growing a business themselves, on hand to offer advice and guidance.

The North East has a high predominance of SMEs and making sure that these businesses are able to access guidance through mentoring is hugely important.

Growth through Mentoring has been launched as part of the North East LEP’s drive to support companies to scale, helping to create more and better jobs and drive economic growth in the region.

Research has shown that, in the UK, only 22% of SMEs receive mentoring, despite its proven success in improving a business’s likelihood of experiencing growth.

Andrew continues:

I have a track record of leading businesses through periods of accelerated growth as well as developing senior managers to meet their full potential. I know that, by acting as a trusted adviser, a mentor can provide a useful sounding board, ensure the business avoids common pitfalls and help keep it on track.”

It’s also about networks – as a mentor, I can introduce my mentee to a wider network of people. I may not have all the answers myself but I probably know others who do.

So what makes a successful mentor-mentee relationship?

As a mentor, you have to be really good at listening and hear what your mentee is not saying, as well as what they are saying,” said Andrew. “You also have to understand that you are there to question and share insights and to help them apply the conclusions of the conversations and ensure there are clear KPI’s to measure performance.

From the other side of the relationship, a mentee should go into the process with an open mind, ready to learn and be clear about what they are hoping to get out of it. Have some milestones in mind – if we set out on this journey, what do you want from it?

I have two sons who are at the age where they’re about to step out into the big wide world and I know how important guidance and mentoring will be in their lives. As they start their careers, I’m looking forward to getting started in my own new role as a mentor with the North East LEP.

Find out more about the Growth through Mentoring programme.

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Want to scale your business? Think franchise.

Colin Bell, our Business Growth Director, discusses the advantages of franchising your business.

Some of the world’s most scalable businesses are franchises. When the formula is right they can scale at a phenomenal rate. So if at the top of your new year’s resolution list is ‘grow my business’ then learning lessons from franchisors could help you to devise a scalable business model.

So what can we learn from franchises?

  1. In most franchised businesses, increased revenue has a marginal impact on the franchisor’s costs base. Accountants are likely to call this high operating leverage and investors like high leverage because as the business scales, they can see margins increase in parallel. However for the franchisor, the opposite is often true: as they expand, their costs increase at a higher rate hence the franchisor has moved the costs increase from them to the franchisee.
  2. Franchisees provide investment capital. In most franchised businesses, franchisees purchase the franchise upfront; so without incurring much cost the franchisor receives a cash injection that can be used to further expand and invest in their business.
  3. Franchisors build it once and sell it many times. To develop a franchised business at some point, the franchisor has made the decision to break from the day to day and to begin working ‘on’ rather than ‘in’ their business. This enables them to figure out why customers buy from them, what is it that they do that adds most value and then refining and structuring the business model in such a way that they can easily educate others (franchisees) on how they too can build a successful business based on their model.
  4. Franchises attract highly engaged talent. Franchisees have invested significantly in the franchise and unlike employees they can’t just walk away and get a new job. The result is that they are likely to be much more engaged and motivated than a branch manager appointed directly by you.
  5. Franchises can result in reoccurring and predictable revenue. Franchisors normally receive a predictable and reoccurring revenue stream from franchisees through both royalties and the purchase of materials. As well as contributing to the bottom line, reoccurring revenue can be used to cover operational costs.

Key questions to consider:

  • How can you develop a model that means when sales increase your costs don’t?
  • How can you develop a model that is cash flow positive – receives cash upfront before incurring costs?
  • How are you going to release the time required to work ‘on’ your business rather than ‘in’ it?
  • How are you going to truly engage and motivate your people?
  • How can you lock customers in and generate predictable reoccurring revenue streams?

Research has shown that 71% of business leaders felt that they would be able to grow their business quicker if it were easier to find mentoring and a professional support scheme locally and they worked effectively (source: Scale Up Institute: Scale Up Review 2016) and the North East LEP want to help make that happen.

We have recently launched our Growth through Mentoring programme, where we match experienced leaders who have grown a business themselves, with ambitious SME owners who have the drive and ambition to grow their business.