Update from Steve Brown - our sponsored 2012 Paralympian hopeful

It was great to receive news this week from Steve Brown, our sponsored 2012 Paralympian hopeful.  He is working hard towards being selected for the 2012 wheelchair rugby team despite his disappointment at not being selected for the World Championships.  His continued dedication is outstanding.  As Steve himself says "I found myself getting better and better in the sport and taking it far more seriously.  The extra dedication I have for the sport now has moved me from a recreational player to an athlete and my life now revolves around the sport".

Steve has recently been involved in filming for a Channel 4 documentary.  Along with other members of the GB wheelchair rugby squad he will feature in some up and coming programmes.  The first, called 'Inside Incredible Athletes', will be shown at the end of August.

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)

So, the race is on – partnerships of local authorities and business have until 6 September to submit outline proposals for a Local Enterprise Partnership for their area. While the full detail will not be clear until the White Paper, the letter from Vince Cable and Eric Pickles promises a very interesting remit for the new Partnerships. As well as business start up and employment,  which is as expected, the LEPs will have strategic role for creating the right conditions for business and growth and will look at planning, housing, local transport and infrastructure priorities, as well as supporting the transition to the low carbon economy.

Now that sounds like the current brief of one or two partnership groupings we currently work with, but for others it will require some changes. 

How will the planning role work out with local authorities, where does the skills agenda fit in, and can the LEPs really get going on business growth if innovation is not to be part of their brief? These are all questions to be thrashed out and put into some form of convincing case. Then there is the issue of which area is to be covered “groups of upper tier authorities” is wonderfully wide open to interpretation, and I for one welcome it. It allows partners to form alliances that make sense in the context of their own business geography, and therefore have all the more chance of being effective and holding together.

It has all to be pulled together over the summer – bang when everyone will be on holiday.  Many areas will have existing partnerships well able to adjust and take on the role. Some will need new formations, and some will need new partners. Looks like it is going to be busy. We know how to do this partnership thing, and we know business and places. If we can help, just let us know.

To help you put together your LEP we have developed a SHORT GUIDE TO LEPs.  Feel free to download, use and to give us a call if you need any impartial help, particularly with developing a realistic and workable partnership.

Internationalising Business - Is it the way to grow in the current economic climate?

There is a lot of interest in how firms internationalise and there was a really interesting report published at the weekend listing Britain’s top 100 companies with the fastest growing overseas sales (Sunday Times, International Track 100, July 11 2010).  It made the interesting point that while western economies are growing very sluggishly, others are still growing rapidly – China’s grew by 12 % in the first quarter this year and India’s GDP is expected to increase by 8% this year (HSBC figures).

Many of the firms listed have changed their mentality about how they see these growing economies.  They are no longer simply a source of cheaper supplies but actually are becoming important business and consumer markets in their own right.  It was interesting to see a real spread of types of business, from high tech petrochemical support businesses through to food, book retailing, manufacturing, consultancy, wine sales and recruitment.

Our research has shown that it is the exposure of the people running the business to internationalisation which is the key determining factor in whether the business will go global.  There is some really interesting work in Kent at the moment looking at early stage interventions which will get more business managers to think about internationalising their firms.  Of course, it is much more than just exporting these days – collaborations with like-minded people overseas, links with non-UK universities and research institutes and even participation in a business blog all widen horizons and markets.

SOA Development Sponsors Wheelchair Rugby Paralympian

We are delighted to announce that SOA Development is sponsoring Wheelchair Rugby Paralympian Stephen Brown in the run up to the London Games.  Based in Sittingbourne in Kent, Stephen narrowly missed out on the Beijing Games but is now a regular member in the GB Team.  He helped his club win the 2009 National League title, won the Kent Disability Sportsman Award and won a Gold medal in the "Vegas Vengeance" tournament in January.  We will be supporting Stephen and following his long list of predicted achievements over the next two years.  If you want to know a bit more about Stephen then follow this link.

SOA Development Achieves ISO14001 Certification  

Following an assessment by an independent body, SOA Development has been awarded ISO14001 certfication.  This certification has only been achieved by less than 1% of UK businesses and, in conjunction with our CarbonSmart award, shows our continuing commitment to reducing the impact of our business on the environment.

A delighted Ian Parkes said "There is no bigger issue than the environment.  Every business can do something to reduce their impact and we always deliver our services in the most environmentally-friendly way we can.  We are never happier than when we are engaging with our clients and discussing how they can reduce their own impact.  It is great that we have achieved ISO14001 and that we have the recognition of a world-wide standard."

For further information on this or CarbonSmart then please contact Karen Cayford by or on 07855 742264.

Vancouver 2010 - London 2012 Next!

Fresh from the Vancouver Games, Peter Hutchison share his experience:

Back from the Vancouver Winter Games after a research trip into the impact of the London 2012 Games. Vancouverites are normally a reserved bunch – like many Brits – although it’s difficult to believe that’s true. Wearing their flag on their sleeve, the Canadian Hosts were incredibly helpful, friendly and welcoming.

At times it seemed that the whole of Vancouver had stopped for the Games. During hockey games, the place was eerily quiet. During the final – Canada won gold after extra time – it seemed as if airplanes had stopped flying as people crowded round every available screen.

In some ways the city had stopped. Downtown businesses had been asked to reduce staff and traffic in the area by around 30%, and a few of the streets were pedestrianised. The city was better for it, too. Will it change Vancouver from a car-culture to public transport for ever? Most Vancouverites didn’t think so, but they’re more open to the idea than ever before...

To read the full article follow this link...