Derwentside District Council. Be Enterprising LEGI Project. SME support

CSW Partnership

“We were surprised at the speed with which this project came together and the quality of the thinking behind it. We would definitely recommend Viretec Consulting to other similar organisations like ours”
Linda Gilleard,
Head of Business Development

The National B2B Centre

“Initially, I was wary of outsourcing this work, but I can honestly say it is the best thing we did. We receive excellent service and have an open collaborative relationship which is just what’s needed to move us forward and tackle the difficult e-adoption issues … and, it makes good sense financially too. More organisations like ours should do this.”
Martin King-Turner,
Centre Director

Derwentside DC

Derwentside District Council brought in Viretec to develop an innovative online support package of web-based services for start-up businesses, as part of their successful Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) project, called Be Enterprising. Viretec's expertise in collaborative technologies has been essential in creating a community of businesses and support groups that are going for growth!

Need
To create an innovate service package for start-up businesses, the LEGI project team needed partners who had a deep understanding of the latest wave of internet technology and how this can be successfully applied to small businesses. They also looked for first-hand knowledge of small businesses and e-business government support programmes. Viretec's background in business support programmes and the expertise of the team in internet and collaborative technologies made them the perfect choice!

Approach

“This is the most innovative business support programme in the North East of England and we are proud to lead the field. Our clients are as pleased with their support services as we are with our partners.”

Elliot Patterson,
Be Enterprising
Programme Manager

Viretec, working in close partnership with GreySky Consulting , proposed an innovative web service model to provide a more effective delivery platform than an ordinary web portal. The solution comprises a simple website with membership management, which provides access to the all important suite of services. The services were configured to integrate into the LEGI support processes, and included versions of;

- Vonage and Skype communications tools
- Viretec WebOffice with custom databases
- Sage Online50 Accounts
- Web Conferencing with WebEx Meetings and MS LiveMeeting.

The benefit of this approach is the flexibility and ease of managing services, and that it always offers the latest technology and services available.

Outcome
Following a successful pilot with 10 companies, the LEGI project launched the "Be Enterprising " start-up support programme in late 2007. The programme is currently supporting a large number of local start-up businesses who are all using the web-based solutions and training packages to develop their businesses. This part of the programme will support around 100 start-up businesses at any one time from their inception to becoming established and surviving on their own.

What Next?
Viretec has in-depth experience of working on public sector business support programmes . Contact us today to see how Viretec can enable successful development and implementation of programmes in your area.