Support programme funded by UK Shared Prosperity Fund to assist high-growth businesses in West Midlands with exporting activities through coaching, peer support, and workshops, aiming to complement existing schemes and involve a provider with experience in supporting SMEs.
Export Support Programme. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is commissioning a range of business support programmes to address the region’s economic priorities. The Export Support Programme forms part of these suite of programmes and will be funded via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, aiming to complement existing schemes available locally as well as nationally. The Export Support Programme aims to support high-growth businesses in the West Midlands (WM) to manage their exporting activity more sustainably, to increase the pace of growth and its duration. It will do this through a range of potential interventions including, but not limited to, intensive one-to-one coaching, peer-to-peer support, and workshops.
WMCA intend to award one contract to a Provider with a demonstrable track record of providing in-depth support to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The provider can be a single organisation or part of a consortium. If bidding as a consortium, a declaration must be made confirming all members of the consortium and their respective roles in delivery of the services and a lead organisation must be appointed to enter the contract with WMCA if successful. The Export Support Programme will: - Complement rather than compete with or replace existing Department for Business and Trade (DBT) support. - Operate in tandem with existing support such as SPF projects, Made Smarter, Innovate UK EDGE to collate demand and generate ideas. - Be 1-2-1 and in-person. - Exploit UK assets to unearth export potential e.g. DBT sector leads; Innovate UK projects; DBT/FCO staff in post; foreign-owned companies in the WM. - Collate demand and create collaborative responses. - Be Cluster-specific – relating to the Plan for Growth rather than generic In delivering the programme, the Provider will be required to carry out the following activities: Deliverable 1: Brand and Collateral Deliverable 2: Business Engagement & Recruitment Deliverable 3: Active Account Management Deliverable 4: Assist and Inform an Independent Evaluation The overarching aims of the programme are: 1.Raise awareness of the Export Support Programme through different networks to set up a funnel of companies with opportunities for growth and scalability. 2. Review and critically analyse current business plans and policies (including marketing strategy, HR strategy, environmental policies etc), governance, management and processes of businesses and identify risks, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses which can be resolved or exploited. 3. Support those businesses to resolve or exploit those risks, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses in a sustained and intensive manner to achieve demonstrable outputs within the duration of the programme.