This Report Was Prepared by Jim Plunkett-Cole of GWE Business West Research

This report was prepared by Jim Plunkett-Cole of GWE Business West Research

Tel: 07715 856265email:

GWE Business West Research, Emlyn Square, Swindon, SN1 5BP

Adapt 2 Survive Final Programme Evaluation

CONTENTS

Executive Summary

1 Introduction

Introduction

Evaluation Methodology

2 Evaluation of the Workshops

Introduction

Workshop Schedule and Attendees

Summary of All

Evaluation of the West of England Workshops

Evaluation of the Wiltshire Workshops

3 Evaluation of the Mentoring and Vouchers

Introduction

Mentoring and Voucher Take Up

Mentors

Survey Findings on the Mentoring and Voucher Elements

4 GVA Impact of the Mentoring and Voucher Programme Elements

Introduction

The Estimated GVA Impact of Adapt to Survive

Executive Summary

The Adapt to Survive Programme provided workshops, mentoring and funding to help businesses in the West of England and Wiltshire to survive the economic downturn.

Evaluation of the Workshop Element of the Programme

Adapt to Survive comprised a series of 13 workshops, 9 in the West of England and 4 in Wiltshire. The workshops ran between the period 16 September 2009 to 5 May 2010. These workshops were attended by a total of some 186 individual businesses, 133 of which were based in the West of England and 53 in Wiltshire. On the main indicator of participants, the A2S Programme therefore achieved 83% of its West of England target and 88% of its Wiltshire target.

On most of the workshop evaluation indicators, from those businesses that attended the workshops, there is clear evidence of high levels of satisfaction, sometimes very high levels, and very low levels of disappointment and dissatisfaction. It is clear that the workshops were very much appreciated by most of the delegates / beneficiaries who attended them. In most instances, they left the workshops with a practical plan of action to help the business survive the Downturn.

The ‘4Ps’ framework, and the second interactive action plan development session of the workshops, were both highlighted by many attendees as particularly useful. In fact, delegates often remarked that the best and most useful aspect of the workshops was the interactive element of the second session, developing ideas for their particular business to tackle the Downturn, with contributions from other business owners and/or other businesses acting as a sounding board.

The experience of the facilitator in helping to develop ideas for individual businesses was also a critical success factor in the success of the workshops. The networking opportunities with other businesses, afforded by the workshops, was often highly valued by most attendees, particularly where this was actively encouraged and supported by the facilitator(s).

In order to improve the workshops, delegates suggest:

Shortening the first session and make it ‘punchier’…a good many delegates felt they were being ‘talked at’ for far too long.
Extending the second action planning section and ensure that it is interactive with more open discussion of ideas for each individual business (breaking out into groups if required).
Developing the workshop content such that there is greater relevance to services.
Ensuring the businesses are supported to make the most of the networking opportunity (e.g. ensure the workshop has a ‘meet and greet’, name badges, a delegate list and possibly a brief overview of the companies).

It should be noted that, following feedback from the earlier workshops, the agenda for the workshops was changed with the removal of the Nine Steps to Nirvana presentation and its replacement with the more interactive business innovation element. This gave clients more time to concentrate on completion of Action Plans and the 4Ps. This started in January 2010.

Evaluation of the Workshop Mentoring and Voucher Element of the Programme

51 businesses were mentored in the West of England, with 35 of these claiming the voucher in full or in part (a total voucher claim of £8,162). In Wiltshire, some 27 businesses were mentored, 18 of which claimed the voucher (a total claim of £4,398). In total, therefore, the Programme mentored 78 businesses, 53 of which (68%) claimed the voucher in full or in part (a total claim of £12,560).

The initial project target for the West of England was 80 mentor-mentee relationships and in Wiltshire it was 40 mentor-mentee relationships. The A2S Programme therefore achieved 64% of its West of England target and 68% of its Wiltshire target. Reasons for this performance under-achievement include the late programme start, project manager under-estimation regarding the staff management and administration requirements of the Programme and the fact that the targets were initially set with the inclusion of (the major economic centre of) Bristol as a project partner.

A survey of mentees found that:

A2S helped 56% of its participants to improve their understanding of innovation
A2S helped 64% of its participants to improve their business skills
Just 1 business was dissatisfied with the relationship with their mentor
All participants foundthe Programme management at least satisfactory.
Almost four fifths of A2S participants stated that there was at least a ‘Good’ fit’ with respect to their requirements and the skills and experience of their mentor.
Over two thirds of participants stated that the mentor had been very able or at least able to assist them.
85% of participants who were mentored in the programme stated that the mentoring was fit for purpose.
97% of participants who received the Voucher stated that it was fit for purpose.

Whilst dissatisfaction and disappointment with the mentoring and voucher element of the Programme is generally hard to find, where it does exist it is generally related to the suitability of the mentor to the needs of the business.

However, perhaps the main summary finding is that 97% of A2S participants would recommend the Programme to another business.

GVA Impact of the Mentoring and Voucher Elements of the Programme

The A2S Mentoring and Voucher Programme elements had an estimated GVA impact of £2,676 per participating enterprise. This was higher, at £3,294 per West of England Enterprise and lower, at £1,832 per Wiltshire enterprise. These differences are due to the fact that the Wiltshire participants who responded to the survey were smaller than their West of England counterparts (as they probably were amongst all participant enterprises).

Conservative estimates of total GVA impact of the A2S programme over the next three yearssuggest that the Programme will make total GVA improvements of £217,470. The improvement in the West of England will be £168,000 and in Wiltshire it will be £49,470.

The ‘return on investment’ for Wiltshire from A2S will be lower than the West of England due to the generally smaller size of businesses in Wiltshire compared to the West of England; even if high numbers of Wiltshire participants expect to improve their turnovers/GVA as a result of A2S, it is generally from a lower starting point. If Wiltshire wishes to secure higher levels of absolute ROI in future support programmes, it should perhaps consider the implementation of a turnover eligibility threshold.

It should also be noted that this GVA impact estimate DOES NOT INCLUDE any GVA impacts associated with those 100+ enterprises who attended the workshops but who did not undertake the mentoring or take up the Voucher.

GWE Business West Research

Adapt 2 Survive Final Programme Evaluation

1Introduction

Introduction

1.1This report presents the findings from the final evaluation for the Adapt to Survive project.

1.2The Adapt to Survive project delivered direct support to SMEs in Wiltshire and the West of England via a combination of workshops, vouchers, and mentoring. Business owners and managers were assisted in making changes that would help their business to survive, develop and grow through the economic recession.

1.3The project was funded by the South West Regional Improvement & Efficiency Partnership (SWRIEP) and the Local Authorities in Wiltshire and the West of England.

1.4The project ran from 1 June 2009 – 31 March 2010with an extension until the end of June 2010 for Wiltshire and until the end of September 2010 for the West of England.

1.5The project wasavailable to any business with up to 250 employees within the West of England (Bath and North East Somerset, City of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) and Wiltshire (not Swindon).

1.6The overall Project Objective was to help business owners and managers find innovative ways to drive their business forward in difficult economic times. The initial Project Targets were as follows:

West of England

Recruit 28 mentors by 31 October

8 Adapt to Survive Workshops by 30 November

20 delegates at each workshop (160)

80 mentor-mentee relationships (20 each LA area)

Wiltshire

Recruit 15 mentors by 31 October

3 Adapt to Survive Workshops by 30 November

20 delegates at each workshop (60)

40 mentor-mentee relationships

1.7The accountable body for the Project was Bath & North East Somerset Council and the Programme Managers were GWE Business West Enterprise Services. The three Project Delivery Partners were GWE Business West Enterprise Services, North Somerset Enterprise Agency, and BRAVE.

1.8The project outputs were as follows:

Half-day Adapt to Survive Workshops

Interactive learning workshops on how to make improvements to products, services and processes in order to maximise efficiencies, minimise costs and improve financial performance resulting in an ‘Work-Smarter Action Plan’.

Adapt to Survive Mentoring Sessions

One-to-one meetings, telephone, and e-mail support from an experienced/trained business mentor to help the business develop and implement a ‘Work-Smarter Action Plan’ (and thus derive the business benefits).

Adapt to Survive Vouchers

Up to £250 to cover the costs of implementing the ‘Work-Smarter Action Plan’.

1.9The Programme recruited volunteer mentors who would volunteer their time to support client businesses and who signed agreements of non-disclosure of information. These Mentors had their expenses paid and relevant insurances covered. Mentors undertook a dedicated training programme and were provided with networking opportunities with mentees and fellow mentors.

Evaluation Methodology

1.10Evaluation evidence was gathered from the following sources:

Self-completion workshop evaluation / feedback forms
A bespoke online evaluation survey

1.11Survey responses were downloaded into SPSS statistical analysis software.The results for each main question were analysed and broken down into cross-tabulations for area, size and broad industrial sector.

GWE Business West Research

Adapt 2 Survive Final Programme Evaluation

2Evaluation of the Workshops

Introduction

2.1In this Section of the report we present the evaluation findings for the Workshop element of the Programme. Data and information used for this evaluation of the Workshop element was drawn from the self-completion feedback sheets issued to individual beneficiaries at each of the workshops.Data on the number of attendees was drawn from the Programme management information system.

Workshop Schedule and Attendees

2.2Table 2.1 below shows that the Adapt to Survive Programme comprised a series of 13 workshops, 9 in the West of England and 4 in Wiltshire. The workshops ran between the period 16 September 2009 to 5 May 2010. These workshops were attended by a total of some 186 individual businesses, 133 of which were based in the West of England and 53 in Wiltshire.

Table 2.1: Workshop Schedule and Attendees

Location / Date / Number of Attendees
West of England Workshops
Weston-Super-Mare / 16/9/09 / 9
Bath / 1/10/09 / 16
Bath / 3/11/09 / 30
South Gloucestershire / 12/11/09 / 20
Weston-Super-Mare / 26/11/09 / 10
South Gloucestershire / 9/12/09 / 10
Bath / 26/1/10 / 12
Bath / 4/5/10 / 10
Weston-Super-Mare / 5/5/10 / 16
Total / 133
Wiltshire Workshops
Devizes / 17/9/09 / 9
Devizes / 27/10/09 / 12
Devizes / 1/12/09 / 21
Devizes / 27/1/10 / 11
Total / 53
ALL / 186

2.3As can be seen, 9 workshops were run in the West of England, with a total of 133 participants. The initial project target was 8 workshops with 160 participants. In Wiltshire there were 3 workshops attended by 53 participants against an initial target of 3 workshops with 60 participants. On the main indicator of participants, the A2S Programme therefore achieved 83% of its West of England target and 88% of its Wiltshire target.

2.4It should be noted that, following feedback from the earlier workshops, the agenda for the workshops was changed with the removal of the Nine Steps to Nirvana presentation and its replacement with the more interactive business innovation element. This gave clients more time to concentrate on completion of Action Plans and the 4Ps. This started in January 2010.

Summary of All

2.5Table 2.2 shows a tabulation of the summary feedback results from the Adapt to Survive Workshops.

Key points

The workshops were attended by 186 participants. 165 workshop feedback formswere completed by these beneficiaries (89% of attendees).
42% of participants rated the workshop as ‘Highly productive’ and a further 57% rated it as ‘Productive’. Just 1% were disappointed in that they found that it was ‘Not Productive’.
The workshop fully met the expectations of 76% of its participants and a further 23% of expectations were met in part at least. The expectations of just 1% of participants were not met by the workshop.
69% of respondents rated the workshop instructor as ‘Very satisfactory’ and a further 30% rated the instructor as ‘Satisfactory’. Just 1% of respondents were found the instructor to be ‘Unsatisfactory’.
69% of workshop participants rated the event organisation as ‘Very satisfactory’ and a further 31% rated it as ‘Satisfactory’. None of the participants were dissatisfied with event organisation.
53% of respondents found the workshop venue to be ‘Very satisfactory’ and a further 44% rated it as ‘Satisfactory’. 2% of participants found the venue to be ‘Unsatisfactory’.
83% of respondents stated, from the workshop, that they wanted to take advantage of the mentoring support element of the Programme to help them to carry out the action plan they had developed at the workshop. A further 5% were considering this option whilst 12%were not going to pursue the mentoring element.
The ‘acid test’ for the workshop evaluation, from the perspective of the beneficiaries at least, is whether or not they would attend a similar event in the future. On this crucial feedback question, over four in five participants (82% of participants) stated that they would attend a similar event in the future. For a further one in five (18% of participants) this was a possibility. There were no participants at the workshops who stated categorically that they would not attend a similar event in the future.

Summary

2.6On most of the workshop evaluation indicators, from those businesses that attended the workshops, there is clear evidence of high levels of satisfaction, sometimes very high levels, and very low levels of disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Table 2.2: Summary Table of Smart SME Workshop Feedback

Question / Numbers / %
Attendees / 186 / 100
Forms returned / 165 / 89
.
How would you rate the workshop?
Highly productive / 69 / 42
Productive / 94 / 57
Not Productive / 2 / 1
.
Did the workshop meet your expectations?
Yes / 124 / 76
Partially / 38 / 23
No / 2 / 1
How would you rate the instructor?
Very satisfactory / 114 / 69
Satisfactory / 49 / 30
Unsatisfactory / 2 / 1
How would you rate the event organisation?
Very satisfactory / 114 / 69
Satisfactory / 52 / 31
Unsatisfactory / 0 / 0
How would you rate the venue
Very satisfactory / 88 / 53
Satisfactory / 73 / 44
Unsatisfactory / 4 / 2
Will you be taking mentoring support to help carry out your action plan?
Yes / 128 / 83
Maybe / 7 / 5
No / 19 / 12
Would you attend a similar event in the future?
Yes / 133 / 82
Maybe / 29 / 18
No / 0 / 0

Evaluation of the West of England Workshops

2.7Table 2.2 shows a tabulation of the summary feedback results from the Adapt to Survive Workshops in the West of England.

Overall Summary

The workshops were attended by 133 participants. 114 workshop feedback forms were completed by these beneficiaries (86% of attendees).
37% of participants rated the workshop as ‘Highly productive’ and a further 61% rated it as ‘Productive’. Just 2% were disappointed in that they found that it was ‘Not Productive’.
The workshop fully met the expectations of 74% of its participants and a further 24% of expectations were met in part at least. The expectations of just 2% of participants were not met by the workshop.
69% of respondents rated the workshop instructor as ‘Very satisfactory’ and a further 29% rated the instructor as ‘Satisfactory’. Just 2% of respondents were found the instructor to be ‘Unsatisfactory’.
66% of workshop participants rated the event organisation as ‘Very satisfactory’ and a further 34% rated it as ‘Satisfactory’. None of the participants were dissatisfied with event organisation.
47% of respondents found the workshop venue to be ‘Very satisfactory’ and a further 50% rated it as ‘Satisfactory’. 3% of participants found the venue to be ‘Unsatisfactory’.
83% of respondents stated, from the workshop, that they wanted to take advantage of the mentoring support element of the Programme to help carry them to carry out the action plan they had developed at the workshop. A further 6% were considering this option whilst 11%were not going to pursue the mentoring element.
The ‘acid test’ for the workshop evaluation, from the perspective of the beneficiaries at least, is whether or not they would attend a similar event in the future. On this crucial feedback question, over four in five participants (82% of participants) stated that they would attend a similar event in the future. For a further one in five (18% of participants) this was a possibility. There were no participants at the workshops who stated categorically that they would not attend a similar event in the future.

Table 2.3: Summary Table of Smart SME Workshop Feedback in the West of England

Question / Numbers / %
Attendees / 133 / 100
Forms returned / 114 / 86
.
How would you rate the workshop?
Highly productive / 42 / 37
Productive / 70 / 61
Not Productive / 2 / 2
.
Did the workshop meet your expectations?
Yes / 84 / 74
Partially / 27 / 24
No / 2 / 2
How would you rate the instructor?
Very satisfactory / 79 / 69
Satisfactory / 33 / 29
Unsatisfactory / 2 / 2
How would you rate the event organisation?
Very satisfactory / 75 / 66
Satisfactory / 39 / 34
Unsatisfactory / 0 / 0
How would you rate the venue
Very satisfactory / 54 / 47
Satisfactory / 57 / 50
Unsatisfactory / 3 / 3
Will you be taking mentoring support to help carry out your action plan?
Yes / 90 / 83
Maybe / 6 / 6
No / 12 / 11
Would you attend a similar event in the future?
Yes / 93 / 82
Maybe / 20 / 18
No / 0 / 0

Weston-Super-Mare5/5/10

2.816 beneficiaries attended the workshop. Workshop feedback suggests workshop was rated above average on the venue but below average on the event organisation and the overall impact / rating of the workshop. All other indicators were on a par with the West of England respective average for that indicator.