EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Why Business Support?

The East of England has over 430,000 businesses – but only a small number seek the advice and support that could help them grow. Through a range of partners – including Business Link, Women’s Enterprise and the Manufacturing Advisory Service – EEDA delivers a range of services designed to help entrepreneurs start and develop their businesses. We also provide regional business leadership through major events.

Our achievements:

• a year of success for Business Link: Business Link East has engaged with over 98,500 local businesses - exceeding its target of 95,535.
  More than 27,600 pre-start companies, 4,939 new start businesses and 66,288 established businesses also benefitted from advice and support. Service satisfaction levels also increased markedly, as Business Link enjoyed a strong start as an EEDA-funded programme
  
  
• supporting manufacturers: the Manufacturing Advisory Service East (MAS East) plays an important role in the region offering advice to businesses seeking improvements to the way they operate
  
  
• supporting enterprising women: launched in 2006, the Enterprising Women programme aims to increase the number, sustainability and growth of women-owned business. This is achieved through a mix of online promotion and connection, news and resources, together with growth training workshops and networking events throughout the region which animate the community. There are now over 3500 members in the community; over 1,000 women have received training, around 800 businesses have been assisted, and 250 new jobs and businesses have been created through Enterprising Women's activities
  
  
• simplifying support for business: EEDA has made very good progress on the government's Business Support and Simplification Programme (BSSP) to simplify the business support provision funded by the public sector. We are well on course to meet the target of having simplified and streamlined business support in the East of England, without, reducing quality or the appropriateness of support on offer.
  All regions have been required to submit Regional Transitional Management Plans - a detailed explanation of how each region will achieve the simplified business support offer. We are now working with the East of England Regional Skills and Competitiveness Partnership to deliver on our objectives. EEDA will be meeting with all the local authorities and other providers of publicly funded business support to assist them through the process as well, ensuring that the region meets the 2010 deadline for a simplified support offer to business
  
  
• Destination Growth '07 – EEDA and the region at its best: drawing together global business leaders and almost a thousand local business people, Destination Growth is the region's most significant business event. The 2007 event was a major success – drawing very positive plaudits from attendees and speakers and successfully positioning EEDA as a strong advocate for the region and its businesses
  
  
• ensuring the region wins at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games: Businesses in the East of England are ideally placed to capitalise on the economic benefits of the London 2012 Games. CompeteFor, the London 2012 games electronic procurement 'dating' system was launched in the region with EEDA support in March 2008, with over 500 businesses attending the event. Over 2,100 businesses from the region have registered on CompeteFor with 38 of them already winning contracts.