Evaluation of Scottish Enterprise Engagement with Account Managed Companies

Economic Development and Reform
10 December 2012

Scottish Enterprise commissioned Upper Quartile to evaluate the impact of mentoring and the account management support for Scotland’s Growth Businesses. Account Management is SE’s flagship business support programme delivering targeted interventions to identified high-growth SME’s with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of Scotland’s business base and driving economic growth.

 

The team at Upper Quartile have run, designed and evaluated business support projects of this nature globally.    Several of the team were involved in the previous evaluation of account management support undertaken in 2008. The current impact evaluation will build on the evidence base from 2008 and the intervening period to:

 

• Quantify the net economic impact and Value for Money (VfM) of mentoring and business development support to account managed companies
• Explore the complex interaction of factors which underpin high growth businesses ability to impact on regional economic growth
• Understand the role a development agency plays in terms of supporting company growth and SME stabilisation and sustainability
• Provide a robust evidence base on which to develop a supportive approach to business growth in a period of fiscal austerity.

 

Upper Quartile are taking a mixed method approach to the evaluation involving a comprehensive review of literature and programme monitoring data, a series of qualitative consultations with key strategic and operational stakeholders, interactive developmental workshops with account managers, in-depth case studies with a selection of company beneficiaries and a large scale telephone survey of account managed businesses. The survey, which began in late November, will involve almost 600 businesses receiving support representing a statistically robust sample representing the full range of sectors actively supported by Scottish Enterprise.

 

The research is due to be completed in March 2012. The final report will be publically available via Evaluations Online.

 

If you would like more information about the research please contact