NAA Business Excellence Programme Update: Business Excellence Programme Decision; Public Sector and Providers Event; and more
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Martin provides an update on the decision about the Business Excellence Programme Proposed Extension, and all Business Excellence Providers are invited to a Public Sector and Providers Event on 30 January 2013, for an update about the automotive sector in the region.
Firstly, I would like to wish you all the best over the holiday period and thank you for your contributions over the past year. The Business Excellence programme has certainly gone from strength to strength, as membership has continued to increase and currently stands at 68 companies, most of which are active. I certainly hope that you all obtained value and will continue to do so in the years to come. I will provide you with a summary of the successes in the early 2013.
Decision to be taken on Business Excellence Programme Proposed Extension on 7 February 2013
On the 6 November our proposal to extend the Business Excellence programme was reviewed by the European Regional Development Performance Monitoring Sub-Committee (PMSC). The group consists of regional leaders, primarily from local strategic partnerships. The committee was supportive of the project, but as monies had been earmarked to other projects prior to the meeting, there were insufficient monies to allocate to our project. The positive news is that at the next meeting on 7 February 2013 the committee anticipates that they will be in a position to support the project financially. I believe that the progression of this extension is as a result of the strong support for the project across the sector, as demonstrated by 38 letters of support.
In support of this proposal, I am currently obtaining output evidence, which is a record of the economic benefits that the support has provided, such as through the mentoring and technical consultancy support. I am in also in the process of working up more case studies, to turn the output numbers into tangible support.
If you have not submitted a letter of support and want to, then please contact me and I will provide you with a template.
Mentoring and Technical Support
Carol and I are working hard to engage Business Excellence members with mentoring and consultancy support, for which we have a small amount of money remaining. Positively, in the last quarter we have already commissioned three projects and have another four in the tender process. Practically, we are able to contribute 25% of project costs for large companies and 35% for SMEs. We are extremely keen to engage SMEs and large companies in Merseyside, for which we have specific targets. The key message is that if you are a large company or an SME based in the North West region, then we would be very happy to discuss the opportunity and potentially subsidise revenue projects. Examples of such projects include lean manufacture, quality systems, marketing strategy, etc.
Case Studies
Since September, we have produced 15 case studies and have a number in the pipeline. The aim of these case studies is to promote you as companies, to share best practice, to raise the profile of our region’s automotive sector, promote the Business Excellence programme and the NAA, and to encourage networking and collaborations. The case studies provide a summary of projects that member companies and the Business Excellence Programme have invested in, which aimed to improve performance. If you would like to look at the case studies, please follow this link: http://northernautoalliance.com/business-excellence/case-studies/
Future Events
Update about the automotive sector: Public Sector and Providers Event, 30 January 2013
On 30 January we will be holding a public sector engagement event for LEPs and individuals in Local Authorities who are business-facing, together with providers on the Business Excellence technical support panel. Through this event we will increase awareness of the automotive sector, the Business Excellence Programme and Autohub with the aim of drawing in additional public sector support for companies. The event will provide automotive sector updates, such as from the SMMT, and project updates from Business Excellence and Autohub.
See more in the separate news item below.
Contact Me
If you’re interested in finding out more about joining the Business Excellence Programme and any of the above, then please contact me. My email and telephone numbers are as follows: m.andrews@nwautoalliance.com, telephone 07870 812214 (direct mobile).
I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best
Martin
Dr Martin Andrews
Northwest Automotive Alliance
