THE ENTERPRISE FOUNDATION & THE LEGACY OF ENLIGHTENED REGENERATION
Over 25 years ago Enterprise took up the gauntlet of economic and physical regeneration by adopting what some might call a helicopter view of the issues and others, a bottom up approach geared at achieving tangible results.
However perceived, Enterprise, established in 1982 by Lancashire County Council as Lancashire Enterprises Ltd, immediately homed in on the real needs of the SME, whilst simultaneously putting job creation top of the regeneration agenda.
Rather than seducing inward investment, we concentrated on fostering business support and encouragement for business start-ups and existing small businesses. Financial needs were met by providing hard-to-acquire venture capital, whilst accommodation requirements were satisfied by sub-dividing former mill buildings into small units suitable for SME usage.
Identifying skills gaps and addressing these with targeted employment training programmes for young people and the long-term unemployed made these initiatives ground-breaking ways of handling regional development. Way ahead of their time, they were the forerunner of TECs (Training and Enterprise Councils), Business Link, LSCs (Learning and Skills Councils) and Regional Development Agencies.
To prevent these activities being curtailed by Part 1V of the Local Government Act in 1989, innovative regeneration was maintained through the creation of the UK's first public/private partnership. Lancashire Enterprises was divided into two separate legal entities - Lancashire County Enterprises Ltd and Lancashire Enterprise plc.
The former, under local authority control, handled contract management and property and investment asset ownership. The private company, in which the local authority maintained a 19.9% stake, was contracted by the County Council to deliver economic development, employment training, property development/ management and venture capital services.
Over 14 successful years, we expanded and entered into innovative service delivery contracts, with a number of public sector agencies, through this enlightened partnering arrangement, witnessing client base growth, UK wide.
This led to a 1997 name change to Enterprise plc and a 2000 merger with ARM Ltd, a major provider of outsourced services to the Utilities industry. This Company has enjoyed sustained success and is now the UK's largest Company dedicated to infrastructure management. We continue to offer quality services emphasising efficiency, innovation and value for money.
Wishing to return to our roots, delivering job opportunities once more, we created The Enterprise Foundation. By gaining leverage from our position as a major public service provider, through partnership arrangements, we are ideally positioned to create much-needed jobs within the sometimes employment-starved communities we serve.
Illustrations of how we have assisted and breathed life back into deprived communities follow here.
