MARKETING LOCAL ENTERPRISE AGENCIES

Abstract

Business start‐ups and enterprise development are supported by the UK Government through Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs) with the provision of managed workspaces and ancillary facilities. Local Enterprise Agency managers may not have business or marketing backgrounds. The extent of use of marketing concepts and practices by staff in LEAs was investigated. A questionnaire was sent to a sample of 30 LEA managers (10% of all LEAs) covering their understanding of LEAs' market ‘positioning’, promotional activity and client targeting. The findings show that the application of formal marketing approaches is weak, even among LEA managers who possess marketing qualifications. It seems unlikely that potentially successful entrepreneurs are seen as a target market by LEA staff or are actively attracted to take advantage of the facilities and services available. Local Enterprise Agencies emphasize the importance of capabilities in business planning, in their clients. However, entrepreneurs are, in general, notably weak in this business function and LEAs may therefore be de‐selecting entrepreneurs in their selection procedures. These findings suggest a weakness in LEA operations. It is recommended that training in marketing specifically tailored to the LEAs' task should be given to LEA managers.

Citation

Kirk‐Smith, M. and Gault, W. (1995), "MARKETING LOCAL ENTERPRISE AGENCIES", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 142-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb020956