Scottish Enterprise cash delivers five-fold return

EVERY pound spent on ongoing support for businesses by Scottish Enterprise (SE) generates £5.30 for the Scottish economy, according to figures released yesterday.

Its work with account managed companies, where intensive support is provided to overcome challenges and identify growth, has also delivered a total of £1.1 billion in benefits to the Scottish economy over the last four years according to SE’s evaluation report.

The agency said the companies it works with have generated combined turnover growth of £1bn in the last year. The account managed companies have increased their cumulative turnover by 8 per cent to £13.7bn in the year to March 2013 with 2,622 additional jobs created.

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SE chief executive Lena Wilson said : “We work intensively with these companies because doing so generates the greatest economic impact for Scotland. They have the ambition and capacity to grow, a global mindset and strong leadership teams inspiring their work force.”

Wilson said the figures highlighted the benefits of the account management approach.

“We’ve listened to our customers and responded to their needs by tailoring our account management support to where it can be most effective. This flexible approach allows us to work with even more ambitious growing companies who are investing and creating jobs.”

The report shows that 70 per cent of the businesses involved say that their productivity has improved with Scottish Enterprise help and 40 per cent that they’ve increased sales in overseas markets.

Scottish Enterprise works with 2,000 companies through its account management approach and with an additional 7,000 companies through wider support activities.

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