Business Gateway Contracts in Grampian and Tayside secured by Enterprise North East Trust

The Business Gateway contracts to deliver business support in Grampian and Tayside have been awarded to Enterprise North East Trust (ENET) by Scottish Enterprise. The contracts will be delivered over a five year period. As a result of the contract wins ENET will continue providing the Business Gateway service in Grampian on behalf of Scottish Enterprise and take over the delivery of the same services across Tayside. On average ENET has assisted in the set up of over 900 businesses each year in Grampian through delivery of the Business Gateway service, with a network of business advisors across the region.

Chris Travis, Chief Executive of ENET comments, "We have been instrumental in supporting new and growing businesses in Grampian since 1991 and have been associated with Business Gateway since its creation in 2002. During the sixteen years that we have been assisting businesses the emphasis has always been on providing a high quality service to companies in a wide range of industry sectors. Every business is equally important and understanding their needs is fundamental to providing a valuable business support service.

"Our ethos remains unchanged and we look forward to continuing to work with Scottish Enterprise as we assist both new and growing businesses and therefore continue to contribute to the region's economic development."

As part of their remit to deliver the Business Gateway services in Grampian, ENET will be working with the Aberdeen Business School at The Robert Gordon University (RGU) to facilitate the delivery of business courses to the existing business market.

"Delivering practical help and advice to support both new and growing business is central to the Business Gateway service," says Chris Travis.

"We view the delivery of professionally run and relevant business courses as being essential to providing a comprehensive service to businesses in Grampian. We look forward to working with the Aberdeen Business School at RGU to provide these courses to the Grampian business community."

Professor Rita Marcella, Dean of Aberdeen Business School, says "This is a unique opportunity to work in partnership with Business Gateway to provide key training to local small and medium sized enterprises. The Aberdeen Business School is committed to developing and supporting entrepreneurship and has a reputation for delivering business relevant education."

Since its inception ENET has assisted over 10,000 businesses. In addition to providing help and advice to new and growing businesses ENET also operates ten serviced offices across the north east; the centres located in Fraserburgh, Peterhead (Burnside), Huntly and Westhill are managed by ENET in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council.

Chris says, "The business centres are the modern answer to conventional leases. They provide companies with access to a prestigious location and flexible contract; companies can lease space for as little as one month. In addition the business centres also offer conference and meeting room facilities which as well as being available for use by tenants can also be used by businesses which are not based in the business centres. ENET also offers a variety of flexible office space solutions including virtual offices, workshop units and meeting rooms across the North East."

The Business Gateway service in Grampian is delivered by Enterprise North East Trust on behalf of Scottish Enterprise Grampian. For more information telephone 01224 289725 or visit www.bgateway.com.

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