COMMONWEALTH_LEGACY_REPORT

COMMONWEALTH ECONOMIC BENEFITS LEGACY
REPORT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
PROJECTS THAT MADE UP THE ECONOMIC PROGRAMME
SECTOR REPORTS
COUNTRY REPORTS

1. INTRODUCTION

The Commonwealth Economic Benefits (CEB) initiative was set up to assist
the sustainable growth of the North West region’s economic base, by
maximising economic opportunities from the Commonwealth Games in
Manchester 2002 and by utilising the Games as a promotional asset for trade
and investment.
The programme operated in the following areas:


developing long term trade initiatives with Commonwealth countries
through inward and outward trade missions, with a current focus on the
following markets - Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Singapore and
South Africa.



promoting sector interests for both indigenous growth and trade activity for
businesses in the North West of England. These groups include: aerospace; automotive; creative industries; environmental technologies;
health industries; information & communication technology (ICT); sports
industries and tourism.



identifying opportunities for, and disseminating information about, business
opportunities relating to the Games, the Games sponsors and the Games
infrastructure.



informing all parts of the North West region and all relevant agencies about
the benefits initiative and encouraging involvement.



organising The Business Club in the run up to Games Time in July/August
2002 to maximise business opportunities alongside the sporting events.
Learning from the success of Business Club Australia in the run up to and
during the Olympic Games in Sydney, the establishment of The Business
Club on the web and in Manchester during the period of the
Commonwealth Games showcasing business opportunities for the
country/North West region on the one hand with Commonwealth and other
international countries on the other. The Business Club featured country
and sector briefings, and also offered a matching service for one-to-one
business discussions. In all there were 41 events – mainly held at the

Bridgewater Hall in Manchester during Games Time attracting an
attendance of over 4000.


Two major conferences – Cultural Impact, held in Liverpool and Bid to
Benefit, held immediately after the Games at the Lowry Hotel – also
formed part of The Business Club programme.

The Business Club continues to grow and at October 2002 has nearly 6000
members. The Club will continue to operate online but will also be involved in
regional, national and international events.
2. BACKGROUND
When Manchester were awarded the XVII Commonwealth Games to take
place in the summer of 2002, Manchester City Council decided that it wished
to demonstrate an economic benefit and charged its Economic Department to
take charge of the initiative. With the formation of MIDAS in June 1997 this
initiative was allocated to it. In September 1997 the Commonwealth
Economic Benefits Initiative was launched with the recruitment of three
secondees from Manchester City Council, Manchester TEC and Government
Office North West forming the secretariat of the Initiative.
During 1999 the 2002 North West Partnership submitted a successful Single
Regeneration Bid for £6,200,000 towards a project costing almost
£22,000,000 of which £1.8m was allocated to Sectoral Development against
project costs of £4.3m over four years. This was to be used to implement
programmes of action in 8 key sectors and 6 key markets, relevant to North
West England.
Key Sectors - Aerospace, Automotive, Creative Industries, Education,
Environmental Industries, Health Industries, Information & Communications
Technology (ICT), Sports-related Industries, Tourism
Key Markets Africa

Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South

Key activities would include the encouragement of bilateral trade and
investment; conferences, exhibitions, and seminars; new market
opportunities; having a North West representative in Commonwealth
countries; supply chain development.
The Commonwealth Economic Benefits Initiative aimed to maximise the long
term economic impact of the 2002 Commonwealth Games and
Commonwealth-related activity on Manchester and the North West region,
ensuring that the benefits were sustainable, thus contributing to the
strengthening of the region’s economy.”
In detail the initiative would








develop long term trade initiatives with key target markets, and respond to
other opportunities in other markets that might arise.
identify opportunities for, and disseminate information about, business
opportunities relating to the Games and its local infrastructure.
promote sector interests for both indigenous growth and trade activity.
Initially these groups would include: aerospace; automotive; creative
industries; education and training; environmental technologies; health
industries; information & communication technology (ICT); sports
industries and tourism.

Organise business activities including a business club during games time
to maximise business opportunities alongside the sporting events.

The responsibility for delivering this economic project was given to MIDAS as
the sub-agent with £300k of the SRB monies allocated to the North West
Tourist Board leaving £1.5m to be administered from February 2000 (when
the delivery plan was approved) until 30 th September 2003. MIDAS recruited
a small team to deliver its own specific projects as well as to co-ordinate the
overall economic programme reporting back to the Commonwealth Games
Opportunities and Legacy Partnership Board via the Programme Manager
(Lesley Giddins).
The Sectoral Bid was based on the following forecast outputs (actuals in
brackets – 8 projects) :SRB
£1,800,000
Public Sector Contribution £1,383,660 (£1,937k)
Private Sector Contribution£1,015,735 (£1,654k)
Jobs created (1Ai)
Business Advised (2D)
SME’s visiting the market (11A)
Networks created (12A)
3.

8
600
200
6

13.5
6,433
250

24

S R B APPROVED PROJECTS

P006 Strategic Development (run by MIDAS/CEB)
P016 Strategic Promotions (run by MIDAS/CEB)
P018 Trade Development
(run by MIDAS/CEB)
P007 Health Care Capacity (run by CHCD)
P008 Creative Frontiers
(run by CIDS)
P009 Supply Chain
(run by C B E)
P013 Trade Link (run by Manchester City Council)
P017 Health Connections (run by CHCD)
P019 Linking the Chains (run by N W A A)
P020 Rabon (run by LARRIAT (Enterprise plc)
P021 Supply Chain Development (run by C B E)
TOTAL

- £722,263
- £50,000
- £243,378
- £18,000
- £35,780
- £20,000
- £45,247
- £97,875
- £67,821
- £15,032

- £177,700
- £1,493,098


P010 Tourism (run by N W T B)

- £309,295

P006 STRATEGIC PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT
A SRB grant of £130,000 over the fifteen months to 31 st March 2001 was
approved in February to fund the Prosperity North West project management
team. The project has in addition to meeting salary and running costs of a
team of five located at MIDAS also enabled the funding of some small ‘one off’
projects such as those undertaken by the aerospace and environment sectors
to be initiated as part of the project sector development stage.
A SRB grant of £596,000 over two and a half years to 30 th September 2003
allowed for the continuation of a strategic programme of sectoral
development, cross sectoral work, trade activity and promotion to maximise
the potential for economic growth in the region, particularly by SME’s that
would be supported by dedicated staff. The project concentrated upon
sectoral capacity building within the key growth sectors (previously identified)
targeted: Creative, Health, Sports Industries, ICT, Environment, Automotive
and Aerospace and in key target markets agreed with Trade Partners UK
regionally and nationally..
The SRB costs to be funded were all revenue expenditure that basically met
the salary and overhead expenditure and project costs of the dedicated staff
team based at MIDAS involved in directing the programme that make up
Prosperity North West (It should be noted that none of these specific activity
projects include a MIDAS staffing element cost as it was all concentrated and
absorbed within this project). This project was therefore the cornerstone of the

Prosperity North West Economic Programme as it provided the staffing
resources to enable the total programme involving a complex partnership
arrangement and additional matched funding to be co-ordinated.
The provision of an administration support structure to develop the economic
programme in conjunction with the appropriate target sector groups was
originally established in February 1999 under project CGEP006 (approval ran
out 31 March 2001). The main objective was the use of SRB funding to
initially undertake research to establish the capacity and capability of the
existing sector groups and to develop a robust group where one did not exist
and to expand Lancashire based groups (eg aerospace & automotive) to
encompass the whole NW region. This work had successfully been
undertaken involving surveys in the health (health capacity – CGEP007),
automotive (RABON – CGEP020) and environment (as part of CGEP006)
sectors that will and has led in the case of the health sector to a specific
projects being initiated by the sector group (health connections – CGEP017).
During that year the CEBI team negotiated a co-operation agreement with
British Trade International (Trade Partners UK & Invest UK) to develop activity
in the six key Commonwealth countries concentrating on the key sectors of
activity. This has resulted in greater liaison with Trade Partners UK at


international, national and regional levels concentrated in the SRB supported
project ‘Commonwealth Trade Development Project (CGEP018).
This ongoing work led to mainstream collaboration between the regional and
national partners in the pursuit of the objectives and to which all partner
organisations are financially and idealogically committed.
The funding primarily met the salary costs, travel costs and general
overheads of servicing the economic programme within Prosperity North
West. In addition it enabled a small amount of sector development work to
take place in conjunction with the key sector partnership groups (aerospace,

automotive, creative industries, environment, health, ICT and sport (tourism is
handled via North West Tourist Board) before it was ready to become part of a
programme initiative such as the Commonwealth Trade Development
Programme. During the year 2001/02 £10k was invested into helping to
establish a functional secretariat for Envirolink North West Ltd prior to a
membership recruitment campaign that secured £90k of funding from the
Regional Development Agency as part of its sector initiative. In addition the
incorporation of the Creative Industries Frontiers project generated additional
private sector contribution to the project and support for the further extension
of the RABON (Automotive Sector) project (covering Cheshire, Cumbria and
the non-KONVER area of Lancashire) ensured that the region was fully
covered. In addition the establishment of a dedicated web site resulted in
project meeting the cost of promotional material etc being developed in
conjunction with MIDAS thus gaining access to its marketing budget.
Administrative support towards the highly successful Skills Show held at
Salford Quays in November 2002, was provided to its direct staff located at
Midas’s offices.

The project team was managed on a day to day basis by the Commonwealth
Team Programme Director and was responsible for providing administrative
support to the target sector groups to promote commonwealth activity in the
key markets. It was responsible for maintaining regular contact with key
national, local and regional partners as well as monitoring of the SRB
Prosperity North West budget of £1.8m and ensuring that proper financial
records were maintained as required by the SRB Programme Director. The
Commonwealth Team Project Director will be directly accountable to the
Commonwealth Economic Benefits Initiative Group that met quarterly under
the chairmanship of Mr Rod Sellers. CEBI itself consists of our agency
partners and sector group leaders meeting quarterly with the September and
March meetings opened up to a much wider audience. CEBI reports back to

the Commonwealth Games Opportunities and Partnership Board, the
organisation charged by Manchester City Council to deliver the social &
economic programme and to co-ordinate under legacy activity.
In 2002 the programme concentrated upon bringing all the relevant sectors,
the Supply Chain Development Programme and market activity together
under the auspices of the Commonwealth Games Business Club, where


strategic use of SRB (£20k) was used to lever in additional monies from T P U
K (£150k), N W D A (£50k), E R D F (£150k) and Manchester Chamber of
Commerce & Industry (M C C I) (£25k) as well as ‘in kind’ support from other
partner agencies. (The Business Club outputs etc. are described in the
Introduction to this report).
The target population was primarily the SME’s in the key sectors across the
whole of the North West. As those sectors were not fully serviced in respect
of the target Commonwealth countries it was therefore the function of CEBI to
keep these markets at the forefront of attention both prior to/during and
immediately after the Commonwealth Games. During the initial fifteen months
of the pilot project surveys were undertaken in the environment, automotive
and health sectors that resulted in SRB supported projects being undertaken.
The project was not used to substitute for mainstream provision but to use the
‘spotlight’ of the Commonwealth Games to highlight gaps in provision e.g.
support for N W D A key clusters, access to trade opportunities in key priority
markets and supply issues around the added business opportunities due to
staging the games.
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
S R B spend
Private and non public sector funding
Public Sector Funding
Jobs created (1Ai)

Jobs safeguarded (1Aii)
Businesses advised (2D)
Events taking place (30Ai)
SME’s visiting market (51A)
Business networks created (52A)

£
726,000
853,650
1,484,223
5
7
5,333
52
39
12

£
(726,000)
(499,000)
(1,516,000)
(5)
(7)
(485)
(18)
(95)
(6)

^ target output transferred to Trade Development Project (P018)
* performance up to 30th June 2003

P016 STRATEGIC PROMOTIONAL PROJECT
A SRB grant of £50,000 was approved in June to enable MIDAS in
conjunction with Marketing Manchester to produce a range of promotional
material and literature for marketing the Commonwealth Economic Benefits
Initiative suitable for use at a range of promotional events. It was used to
enhance the web site and allowed electronic access to information and
promotional material. It ensured that the materials produced conformed to the
‘logo’ requirements of CG 2002 and maximised the promotional budgets of
MIDAS and Marketing Manchester. Having successfully achieved this it was
incorporated into the Strategic Development Project (P006) for subsequent
years.


OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
SRB spend
Private and non public sector funding
Public sector funding

£k
50
2
4

Number of business sector groups sustained

5 (5)

£k
(50)
(5)

(5)

P018 TRADE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
The Trade Development project (approved in September 2000) was based on
the collaborative programme action plan signed between British Trade
International (TPUK – regionally & nationally) and MIDAS after wide
consultation with a broad range of local stake holders on the proposed
projects. The action plan was structured by markets (Australia, Canada,
India, Malaysia, Singapore & South Africa) and sector strategies (aerospace,
automotive, environmental services, health, creative industries, I C T, sports
industry and tourism) and forms part of British Trade International’s wider
country and sector strategies.
The project consisted of a number of activities, events, missions (inward &
outward) to promote trade development with the key Commonwealth
countries (listed above). Project outputs are tabulated below as are a list of
trade missions that have been organised as part of the SRB programme
(some prior to the approval of the trade development project funded through
the Strategic Development Project -CGEP006). Importantly during the lifetime
of this eighteen month project all of the target markets were visited by S M E’s
based in North West England.
Highlights of the project include the Sports trade mission to South Africa in
February 2001 (organised by MIDAS in conjunction with T P U K) that
produced an inward mission from the South African Premier Soccer League to
North West England immediately prior to the outward missions departure.
That mission also enable us to liaise with the British Consulate-General in
Cape Town to lay the foundations for the Liverpool Chamber mission that
coincided with the ‘Liverpool Clipper’s’ arrival in June 2001 and the staging of
a successful fashion show in conjunction with T P U K South Africa Desk.
The trade mission to Australia in February/March 2001 enabled the CEBI
team to talk to Austrade about the Business Club organised at the Sydney

Olympics the previous summer and formulate plans for the Commonwealth
Business Club (our main thrust for 2002). In November 2001 the Singapore
British Business Council brought it’s biannual meeting to Manchester (the first
time the UK event has been located outside of London). In February 2002 we
finally mounted a trade mission to India (organised by MIDAS in conjunction
with T P U K) with the I C T group attending ICT 2002 in Mumbai (Bombay)
and attending NASSCOM.


The Indian visit has resulted in the I C T Games time event majoring on India
with a follow up trade mission planned for the end of this year. An Indian
Environment Showcase event was held in Manchester during March 2002
plus plans for an Inward Mission from ‘Bollywood’ scheduled to take place in
May 2002. The Cultural Industry & New Media have been funded to attend
Badeck in Canada and once again this will lead to Games time activity. The
project has continued in conjunction with Manchester Chamber of Commerce
to target activity in Malaysia and once again this will be capitalised upon with
Commonwealth Games Business Club activity. On the local scene the
project helped to support the successful ‘In the City’ programme and the
Commonwealth Film Festival.
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
£k
£k
247 (224)
706 (81)
213* (233)

SRB spend
Private & Non-Public Sector funding
Public Sector

Businesses advised
SME’s visiting Markets

463 (235)
170 (145)

* BTI (TPUK) changed the emphasis of its funding and instead committed
£150k to the Commonwealth Business Club (part of the Strategic
Development project P006)
TRADE MISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH SRB PROGRAMME
1. Manchester Chamber to Malaysia & Singapore Nov. 1999
2.
“
“
to South Africa & Mauritius Feb 2000
3. Liverpool Chamber Mission to Australia & N Z Feb. 2000
4. SMMT Mission to South Africa Oct 2000
5. Manchester C/C Mission to Malaysia & Singapore Oct. 2000
6. Liverpool C/C Mission to Australia & N Z Feb. 2001
7. MIDAS Sports Mission to South Africa Feb 2001
8. Manchester Mission to Australia March 2001
9. Liverpool C/C Mission to South Africa June 2001
10. Manchester Mission to Australia Sept. 2001
11. Manchester C/C Mission to Malaysia & Singapore Nov.2001
12. MIDAS ICT Mission to India Feb. 2002
13. Liverpool C/C Mission to Australia & N Z Feb 2002
22
TOTAL

CONCLUSION

216

29
4
6
2
31
29
18
27
19
3
10
16


The project has exceeded all its original targets with the exception of
attracting funds from T P U K (B T I changed its emphasis on funding but is
supporting the Commonwealth Business Club with £150k in cash plus
considerable ‘in kind’ contribution) even in spite of the events of 11 th
September in New York. The cancellation of C H O G M in September 2001
denied us the opportunity to promote both Manchester’s staging of the
Commonwealth Games and outlining plans for the Business Club to a wider
Commonwealth audience.

P007 HEALTHCARE CAPACITY
This pilot project attracting SRB totalling £18,000 received approved in
February 2000 to build a database which was an essential foundation for a
longer term project (Health Connections P017 the subject of a subsequent

SRB proposal). However, this short project stood on its own and created
intrinsic benefits. In particular it was supportive of the strategy of the North
West Development Agency as expressed in their “2020” document. This data
gathering project enabled an integrated data base to be created that identified
a register of export capacity in the north west for Health Sector companies and
other enterprises providing knowledge and training based services. The data
base was to cover products, clinical service design, health improvement plan
design, knowledge transference, training expertise, and medical and health
research capacity, as well as expert consulting resources in both clinical and
organisational matters. Once created it would be managed and maintained by
the Centre for Healthcare Development (CHCD) in conjunction with
MEDILINK.
In detail this particular SRB proposal involved the following activities:
 Creating a data base of the target enterprises and individuals
 Creating summary information on the target countries for dissemination to
the possible participating enterprises in the north west
 Developing compatible questionnaires for the target enterprises and
individuals
 Managing the distribution, follow-up and receipt of completed
questionnaires
 Evaluation and inputting of the information on to the data base
 Creating an e-mail data base to aid future communications
 Delivering a report of the type of information available to the Health Sector
Focus Group.
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
S R B spend

£
18,000

£
(18,000)


Private & non public funding
Public sector funding

10,250
14,450

(10,250)
(14,450)

Number of capacity building initiatives (8f)
1 (1)
Number of business networks created (52Ai) 1 (1)

P017 HEALTH CONNECTIONS
The Health Connection project in the sum of £135,800.00 was approved in
July 2000 for the period until 31st March 2002. The project was to link the
capacity and capabilities of private sector companies, public sector
organisations, academic institutions and individuals active in the health sector
with potential markets in the target Commonwealth countries. The project was
co-ordinated by the Centre for Health Care Development (CHCD) and directly
built upon the survey report prepared under Healthcare Capacity (P007). The
new network proposed to improve the co-ordination of collaborative efforts to
enhance export performance of the whole Health Sector economy in the North
West of England. In particular the export performance of S M E’s and the
overseas activity of public sector organisations would be improved by more
effective matching processes between companies and other organisations.

Increased opportunities for export contacts would be made by attendance at
trade shows and participation in trade missions and other collaborative
developments.
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
SRB
Private & non public sector funding
Public Sector funding

£
97,785
31,941
57,230

£
(135.800)
(92,490)
(132,355)

Number of businesses receiving advice (2D) 80 (35)
Number of capacity building initiatives (8F)
21 (33)
S M E’s visiting market (51A)
13 (12)
Number of business networks created (52Ai)
8 (11)
Number of enquiries received (52Aiii)
40 (70)
P008 CREATIVE FRONTIERS
The project approved in February 2000 in the sum of £36,000 until 31 st March
2001 was to deliver services to support the growth of international networking,

market opportunities and trade in the creative industry sector. The services
delivered would be research, advice and targeted business support in order to:



Identify key market opportunities in EU and Commonwealth member
states
Identify SME’s and networks of SME’s with potential to trade in these







markets
Build capacity locally for export through provision of sector specific
advice and guidance to individual SME’s, and groups of SME’s, to
target markets and manage the outcomes of overseas marketing
projects
Undertake development of projects which promote access to
international markets for NW regional SME’s in the CI sector
Disseminate research outcomes and best practice from marketing
initiatives to other SME’s and mainstream support services.

Under this project ERDF monies were targeted to develop EU markets and
market capability in Creative Industry SMEs in the Manchester and City Pride
area. SRB monies enabled the existing and new resources to be targeted to
Commonwealth markets and to Creative Industries in the North West region
wishing to develop those markets. Project partners included Creative

Industries Development Service (CIDS), Marketing Manchester, Manchester
Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Arts about Manchester and the
Manchester Institute of Popular Culture.
When the project was completed the activity was incorporated into the
Strategic Development Project (P006) & Trade Development Project (P018).
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
S R B spend
Private & non public sector funding
Public sector funding

£
35,780
21,880
152,888

Jobs created (1Ai)
Number of businesses receiving advice (2D)
Number of S M E’s visiting the market (51A)

£
(36,000)
(80,000)
(131,513)
0.5 (0.5)
115 (55)
22 (15)

P019 LINKING THE CHAINS PROJECT

The project co-ordinated by the North West Aerospace Alliance approved in

September 2000 in the sum of £67,815 of SRB to run until 31 st March 2003 proposed
to undertake three main activities to promote links between the Aerospace & Defence
sector in the North West and the equivalent industries in the Commonwealth. These
links included India, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. The
principal mechanisms for improving links and encouraging development of trade
included events held during the major international aerospace and defence shows
and in particular those held in Commonwealth countries. It was proposed to culminate
this with a major Commonwealth Aerospace conference event to be held in the North
West during the Commonwealth Games (it became a Business Club sector event). In
order to provide an analytical framework for development of trade, it proposed to


undertake a capability analysis of the aerospace industries in each of the countries
listed.
The three main activities are detailed below:
1. Major Air Shows and Exhibitions
The North West Aerospace Alliance has attended shows on the basis of member
interest. The Alliance has regularly exhibited at Farnborough and Paris, attended the
North American Show in Canada three times, and has also exhibited in Australia. It
would then be the intention to build upon the work undertaken at Farnborough 2000
Supported through the Strategic Development Project (P006) by to holding further
seminar/workshop events in Paris (2001) and at Farnborough in 2002. The scale of
attendance and events at other air shows/ exhibitions would depend on levels of
interest generated.
2. Capability Analysis
This work to assess the capability of the North West Aerospace Industry was funded by the
NWDA, and aimed at identifying priority areas for improvement. SRB funding would enable
the NWAA to build upon this initial work, as a basis for developing more effective links with
other regional aerospace industries across the world such as the Ontario Aerospace Council
that identified a potential sector analysis methodology for comparing gaps in the respective

industries and to identify potential areas of synergy. NWAA proposed to undertake a pilot
study to test the potential of the methodology and to extend this to other participants.The
NWAA had already signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) for co-operation with a
number of regional aerospace associations including the Australian Industrial Defence
Network and the provincial associations in Manitoba, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.
It proposed to sign M O U’s with the equivalent organisations in India, South Africa, Malaysia
and Singapore.

3 Commonwealth Games Aerospace Conference
Building on the links established NWAA proposed to host a major conference event in
the North West to coincide with the Commonwealth Games that take place at the
same time as Farnborough 2002. In the event the conference was incorporated into
the Business Club event programme following Farnborough and was supplemented
with visits to major aerospace centres in the North West by groups from Malaysia.
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
S R B spend
Private & non public sector funding
Public sector funding

£
67,636
26,413
11,698

Number of jobs created (1Ai)
1
Number of businesses advised
400
Feasibility studies completed (11A)
7

S M E’s visiting the market (51A)
3
Number of business networks created (52Ai) 2

(1)
(250)
(0)
(10)
(0)

£
(67,815)
(33,295)
(35,344)


P020 RABON (AUTOMOTIVE PROJECT)
The RABON project approved in September 2000 in the sum of £15,032 of
SRB covering the period to 31 st March 2001 allowed LARRIAT (Lancashire &
Regional Rail & Automotive Partnership) to apply resources to companies in
Greater Manchester and Merseyside, to recruit new members as well as
profiling their business development requirements and include them on the
LARRIAT website. Since 1st April 1999 Lancashire County Council and the
European Union's KONVER II programme have been funding the Lancashire
Road, Rail and Automotive Partnership (LARRIAT), a project managed by
Enterprise plc. The project aimed to improve the competitiveness and
profitability of 160 member companies, mostly Tier 2 and 3 in the automotive
supply chain, by acting as a gateway for new business and training
opportunities. Key features of the project are a monthly newsletter informing
members of events and business opportunities, as well as an interactive website providing a search facility to enable customers to access information on

members products and capabilities. Membership continued to grow both within
the eligible areas of Lancashire and outside through the creation of associate
membership. The LARRIAT operating methodology and business
development support structure would be extended to SME automotive
engineering and manufacturing companies in Greater Manchester (GM) and
Merseyside. This would enable most of the region's automotive related
companies to:
 receive the project newsletter and be listed on the web-site;
 be personally notified by e-mail of new business opportunities, identified
through the project's domestic and international networks;
 participate in automotive workshops on training, supply chain and business
development topics;
 participate in the LARRIAT mission programme to the major international
trade shows targeted by the DTI Automotive Directorate.
Extending the project was expected to produce considerable economies of
scale as well as the following tangible benefits:





promotion of the concept of an integrated North West automotive
industry in line with RDA strategic objectives on sectorised clusters;
there will be a quantifiable contribution to an increase in the profitability
and competitiveness of a major part of the North West SME
engineering and automotive sector;
support will be given to the MIDAS initiative on Commonwealth Games
related economic benefits through participation in automotive missions
to South Africa, India, Malaysia and Canada;
the project will promote the use of web based ICT systems and help to

create an electronic business portal for the North West automotive
industry;




a mechanism will be created to promote inward investment into underresourced SMEs thereby securing the employment base and
profitability of the automotive sector.

Project Implementation Plan
Within the initial six month pilot phase of the project the following outputs will
be delivered:











a marketing campaign to approximately 500 Greater Manchester and 100
Merseyside companies on the LARRIAT NorthWest Automotive database
in the automotive sector notifying them of project objectives and benefits
and inviting participant registration;
telemarketing follow-through to companies who have failed to register
interest three months after the start of the marketing campaign ;
design and posting of approximately 100 GM and Merseyside participating

companies within discreet regionalised segments of the existing web-site;
immediate extension of the newsletter to participating GM and Merseyside
companies as well as the new business information and opportunity
matching service drawn from the existing LARRIAT network and Tradelink
UK;
extension of the LARRIAT programme of industry workshops, meet the
buyer seminars and trade missions to GM and Merseyside companies
particularly focusing on Commonwealth markets such as India, Malaysia,
South Africa and Canada;
profiling of GM and Merseyside participating companies and inclusion of
their company details in the interactive web-site;
adaptation of the interactive web-site to provide electronic matching of new
business opportunities to all LARRIAT, GM and Merseyside participating
companies.

OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
£
15,032
0

S R B spend
Private and non public sector funding
Number of businesses advised (2D)
Feasibility Studies (11Ai)
S M E’s visiting the market (51A)
Business networks created (52Ai)

42
19
3

1

£
(15,032)
(5,000)

(100)
(20)
(20)
(1)

P009 SUPPLY CHAIN PROJECT PHASE 1
A SRB grant of £20,000 over the fifteen months to 31 st March 2001 was
approved in 2000 to fund the first phase of the Supply Chain project that was


directed towards the construction of Games venues, and targeted towards
businesses involved in the construction sector. Subsequent stages will be
directed towards other industries at times relevant for their involvement in the
Games through potential use of Games sponsors linked to the specific
targeted sectors of the Prosperity North West programme.
The Project’s objectives were;
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0

To capture and spread the benefits of the games across the North West

Region.
To ensure businesses are aware of potential construction contracts.
To assist with the awareness raising of best practice in construction.
To give the opportunity for SMEs to meet one to one with the main
contractors
To give the main contractors the opportunity to effectively assess a
number of potential new or existing local suppliers.
To ensure suppliers to the games, where ever possible, remain in the
North West and therefore the economic benefits also remain in the
region.

OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
S R B spend
Private and non public sector funding
Public Sector Funding
Businesses advised (2D)
Events taking place

£k
20
0
15

£k
(20)
(0)
(15)

3

(60)
(3)

P021 SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT PHASE II
The Phase II project was offered SRB grant totalling £177,700 in July 2000 to
target Commonwealth Games contractors. The programme exists to ensure that
businesses in the North West region are able to take advantage of the
opportunities generated by the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, and
thereby retain the economic benefits within the region.
The Games are being run to the highest standard, with strict budgetary controls,
and so it is essential that businesses engaged be selected because of their
capabilities rather than just their location. The programme seeks to give regional
businesses every opportunity to demonstrate their competitiveness and to
provide support to improve their competitiveness and ability to win business
wherever possible.
The programme has five main activities;
working with Sponsors and supporters of the Games to meet their
specific Games requirements


working with Sponsors and supporters on their overall Supply Chain
requirements
working directly with the Games organisation
raising competitiveness of businesses across the region
communicating as widely as possible the opportunities created by the
Games, the success of the Games and the capabilities of North West
companies.
SupplyWise at Chamber Business Enterprises acted as the focal point for
access to the Games on behalf of the programme partners (MIDAS, NWDA,
Enterprise plc., C B E) and regional local authorities and agencies. Information

about events and activities were cascaded across the region through those local
agencies. Events included 2 Showcase Meet the Buyer events (in June and
October 2001).
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
£k
177.7

S R B spend
Private and non public sector funding
Public Sector funding

£k
(177.7)

P013 TRADE LINK
A SRB grant of £65,000 over fifteen months to 31 st March 2001 was awarded to
the Trade Link project that seeks to define and implement cross-sectoral projects
to utilise ICT for increasing SME capacity and competitiveness. Initial work was
concentrated on taking a North West Group of exhibitors to Softworld 2000 in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in October 2000. Further SRB funding of £179,500
was offered to Manchester City Council outside of the SRB economic programme
and has all been defrayed (no further details are available)
OUTPUTS (budget targets in brackets)
£
45,288
12,500
68,000

S R B spend
Private and non public sector funding

Public Sector funding
Jobs created (1Ai)
Jobs safeguarded (1Aii)
Businesses advised (2D)
S M E’s visiting market (51A)

4.SECTOR REPORTS

1
n/k
196
495

(2)
(50)
(250)
(750)

£
(65,000)
(12,500)
(65,000)


AEROSPACE
SRB funding of £2,000 (from the Strategic Development Project – P006) was
provided to the North West Aerospace Alliance towards the cost of funding a
consultant to visit and investigate the potential market in South Africa. The
overall conclusion was that South Africa is a longer term market with clear
potential. SRB funding of £2,000 (from the Strategic Development Project –

P006) was contributed to NWAA towards the cost of its hosting the
Commonwealth Links in Aerospace Round Table Forum held as part of its
exhibiting at the Farnborough Air Show on 25 th July 2000. The event attracted
representatives from Australia, Canada (both Ontario & Quebec) and India as
well as other UK regional organisations including the SBAC (Society of British
Aerospace Companies). SRB funding was approved (P019) to support a
‘Linking the chains – aerospace partnership project’ – see above. The
Aerospace Sector organised a conference as part of the Business Club at the
Games events held at Bridgewater Hall attracting an audience of 109.
AUTOMOTIVE
Approval was given for SRB funding of £15,000 to enable LARRIAT to work
outside its Lancashire borders to promote the CEBI initiative in the automotive
sector across the whole region. The project will seek to make contact with
500 Greater Manchester and 200 Merseyside automotive companies with a
view to funding long-term initiatives through membership fees. (see RABON
project (P020) above). A further SRB grant of £15,000 was approved in June
2001 as part of the Strategic Development Project (P006) to extend the
RABON supported project throughout the remainder of the North West not
covered by the KONVER funding in Lancashire. This second phase
concentrated upon Cheshire, Cumbria and the non-Konver supported areas of
Lancashire.
When the KONVER ERDF funding ceased in December 2001 LARRIAT
through its sponsor Enterprise plc were unsuccessful in securing further
funding from the NWDA to continue its region wide activity. The NWDA in
consultation with the automotive industry sought to pursue its ‘cluster’ policy
and establish a new industry grouping. However a partnership including
LARRIAT, Trade Partners UK, NWDA & MIDAS came together to organise an
Automotive Conference as part of the Business Club at the Games
programme and attracted an audience of 85 including a large overseas
contingent and displayed several quality cars on the forecourt of Bridgewater

Hall.
Subsequent discussions have taken place (in June 2003) with Walter
McKinlay a Senior Consultant with Optimat of East Kilbride, Scotland that
had won the N W D A contract to ‘map’ the automotive sector following on
from the initial ‘cluster’ work undertaken by Stratagem. Walter has been
working closely with senior figures in the North West Motor manufacturing
industry (he previously worked at the National Engineering Laboratory at East
Kilbride (part of D T I) and for Leyland Trucks at Leyland prior to its demise.


His work in Lancashire with both LAWTEC & ELTEC (now defunct) meant that
he had some knowledge of the LARRIAT project. He has managed to get
together many of the leading lights in the automotive industry based in the
North West under the banner North West Automotive Group (NWAG) and is
about to submit a proposal for funding the secretariat of NWAG to the NWDA.
If successful this should result in a group who would address the industries
direct needs as against the Merseyside Group that had concentrated purely
upon training. Details of the LARRIAT membership list applicable in
December 2001 (at the time funding ceased) were provided in case there
were companies on it that were unknown to him from the other databases he
had brought together.

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Agreement has been reached in conjunction with key partners including North
West Development Agency (NWDA), North West Arts Board (NWAB) &
Culture Industries Development Service (CIDS) on the priority sub sectors
included joint funding of the post of Creative Industries Marketing Manager to
take forward the sectors. A SRB grant of £36,000 (matched to ERDF funding)
was been approved for the fifteen months to 31 st March 2001 and led to the
appointment of a Creative Frontier Worker (Project P008). The priority sub

sectors identified include broadcasting and media (current activity includes
work with Malaysia on an outward mission in October 2000 following a
successful inward mission to the North West during July 2000); fashion &
design; music; visual arts and performing arts & new leisure. Much of the
creative industry work was subsequently pursued through the Strategic
Development Project (P006) & Trade Development Project (P018) led by the
C I Marketing Manager. Of particular note was the Bollywood Inward Mission
from India in May 2002 followed by a return visit in October 2002 in
conjunction with Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

ENVIRONMENT
An industry led forum chaired by Richard Pearce of Enviros March registered
Envirolink North West Ltd. as a company limited by guarantee. The
Secretariat was provided by Sustainability North West. A survey of the
Environmental Technologies and Services companies funded jointly by the
NWDA and MIDAS (through an SRB Grant of £8,000 – part of the Strategic
Development Project (P006). The final report was published and sent to all
participants prior to being presented at two regional meetings to discuss the
findings and determine the way forward. The meetings originally planned to
take place in late September 2000 were been postponed until the end of
October so that the report could be launched alongside the delayed ‘Study
into the Environmental Economy in the NW’ funded by NWDA. This study
report was launched at a high profile event at the Lowry Centre with the


planned ‘Northern’ regional presentation of the industry survey will taking
place at Penrith, Cumbria in March 2001
The Environment Group participated at Environ 2000 Connections held in
Liverpool on 8th June and the Gala Dinner which was addressed by CEBI
Chairman, Rod Sellers. Business Link Warrington are organising a BTI

supported trade mission to India in October that will major on the environment
sector (a DTI key sector). However, although recruitment is underway, to date
the response has been poor.
HEALTHCARE
The Healthcare Group were awarded SRB grants (see report on P007 –
Health Capacity & P017 Health Connections).
ICT
The I C T group linked to the Commonwealth Connect project that formed the
main basis of the extended ‘Trade Link’ project concentrating primarily in
engaging Malaysian I C T businesses. This project built upon the original
MIDAS/Salford University I C T trade mission of March 1998. Activity in
Malaysia proved slow following the currency collapse and other priorities. The
Group also looked closely at the Australian market but due to the world
downturn in the I C T sector the Australian market was hit very badly. Given
the buoyant I C T market in India the group turned its attention to this market
and after several tentative attempts to arouse interest a trade mission was
finally organised in conjunction with TPUK India Desk in February 2002. We
finally mounted a trade mission to India with the I C T group attending ICT
2002 in Mumbai (Bombay) and attending NASSCOM as well as visiting Pune.
The success of the mission led to the staging of an I C T event at the Reebok
Stadium, Bolton in July 2002 as part of the Business Club at the Games
initiative. The event that was linked to an Indian luncheon (Addressed by
Digby Jones, Director General, C B I) attracted an audience of over 200
people. Activity in India is ongoing and hopefully the I C T database and
project will gain financial support from N W D A and be brought to a
successful fruition.
SPORTS INDUSTRIES
An exploratory meeting with the Sports Industries Federation revealed an
interest to establish a NW Forum but as yet this has failed to materialise.
However, as part of the agreed joint action plan with British Trade

International (Trade Partners UK) discussions took place with the TPUK South
Africa Desk to mount a Sports Industries mission to South Africa in February
2001 as part of Trade Development Project (P018). The trade mission to
South Africa produced an inward mission from the South African Premier
Soccer League to North West England immediately prior to the outward
missions departure. During the mission itself a key conference was organised
at Santon, Johannesburg in conjunction with the British Council to address the


role of football as a way of engaging the wider community and addressed the
issue of crowd safety and the value of bidding for major sporting events. The
success of this conference directly led to the successful “Bid to Benefit’
Conference that took place at the Lowry Hotel in August 2002 as part of the
Business Club programme. This was followed up by the B C hosting a sports
seminar at the Imperial War Museum (28th May 2003 -the night of the
European Champions Cup Final) as well as the Manchester Square (London)
Sports Breakfast (11th June 2003) and evening with Peter Kenyon (CEO,
Manchester United F.C.) at Old Trafford Football Ground (3 rd July 2003).
TOURISM
A contract has been made with the North West Tourist Board (NWTB) (in
conjunction with Marketing Manchester) to deliver training and capacity
building programme within an overall Tourism Marketing Strategy for the North
West building upon mainstream British Tourist Authority (BTA) funded
activities. An SRB grant of £100k was awarded for the first phase of the
project for the fifteen months to 31 st March 2001.
SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (CONSTRUCTION)
SRB grants supported the project (see Projects P009 & P021 above).
5. COUNTRY REPORTS

AUSTRALIA

The trade mission to Australia in February/March 2001 enabled the CEBI
team to talk to Austrade about the Business Club organised at the Sydney
Olympics the previous summer and formulate plans for the Commonwealth
Business Club (our main thrust for 2002). The I C T Group also looked closely
at the Australian market but due to the world downturn in the I C T sector the
Australian market was hit very badly. A total of 87 North West business
people participated in five trade missions to Australia. In addition there were
seven specific Australian events at the Business Club in July 2002 attracting
102 participants.
CANADA
The Cultural Industry & New Media have been funded to attend Badeck in
Canada and once again this will lead to Games time activity. The Business
Club has continued to work closely with the Canadian High Commission in
London and has participated in several events with both them and TPUK
Canada Desk. There were two specific Canadian events at the Business Club
in July 2002 attracting 89 participants.


INDIA
The buoyant I C T market in India persuaded the I C T group to turn its
attention to this market and after several tentative attempts to arouse interest
a trade mission was finally organised in conjunction with TPUK India Desk in
February 2002. The I C T group of 16 people attended ICT 2002 in Mumbai
(Bombay) and also attended NASSCOM as well as visiting Pune. The
success of the mission led to the staging of an I C T event at the Reebok
Stadium, Bolton in July 2002 as part of the Business Club at the Games
initiative. The event that was linked to an Indian luncheon (Addressed by
Digby Jones, Director General, C B I) attracted an audience of over 200
people. Activity in India is ongoing and hopefully the I C T database and
project will gain financial support from N W D A and be brought to a

successful fruition. In addition an Indian Environment Showcase event was
held in Manchester during March 2002. Of particular note was the creative
industry activity that majored upon the Bollywood Inward Mission from India in
May 2002 followed by a return visit in October 2002 in conjunction with Mid
Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
MALAYSIA
The trade development project continued in conjunction with Manchester
Chamber of Commerce to target activity in Malaysia resulting in some 67
North West business people visiting the market. In addition there were six
specific Malaysian events organised as part of the Business Club activity in
July 2002 attracting 138 participants. Malaysian delegates also featured
strongly in both the automotive and aerospace seminars.
SINGAPORE
In November 2001 the Singapore British Business Council brought it’s
biannual meeting to Manchester (the first time the UK event has been located
outside of London). There were two outward trade missions visiting the
market resulting in 13 North West business people visiting Singapore. In
addition there were two specific Singapore events organised as part of the
Business Club activity in July 2002 attracting 99 participants.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Sports trade mission to South Africa in February 2001 (organised by
MIDAS in conjunction with T P U K) that produced an inward mission from the
South African Premier Soccer League to North West England immediately
prior to the outward missions departure as part of the agreed joint action plan
with Trade Partners UK (part of Trade Development Project - P018). The
trade mission to South Africa produced an inward mission from the South
African Premier Soccer League to North West England immediately prior to
the outward missions departure. During the mission itself a key conference
was organised at Santon, Johannesburg in conjunction with the British

Council to address the role of football as a way of engaging the wider
community and addressed the issue of crowd safety and the value of bidding
for major sporting events. The success of this conference directly led to the
successful “Bid to Benefit’ Conference that took place at the Lowry Hotel in
August 2002 as part of the Business Club programme. That mission also
enable us to liaise with the British Consulate-General in Cape Town to lay the
foundations for the Liverpool Chamber mission that coincided with the
‘Liverpool Clipper’s’ arrival in June 2001 and the staging of a successful
fashion show in conjunction with T P U K South Africa Desk. A further
mission to Cape Town took place in June 2003. Over the period there were
four trade missions that visited South Africa (excluding the June 2003
mission) resulting in 43 business people visiting the market. In addition two
events were organised as part of the Business Club activity in July 2002 both
hosted by the South African High Commissioner and attracted 183
participants.