Tourism and Enterprise Business Development Strategies

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 5th JUNE 2007

Question

1. W o uld the Minister informmembers -

( i) if a formal framework has been developed within the Tourism Strategy against which all grant

applications are considered?

( ii ) if a formal service level agreement has been established between the Economic Development

Department and the Jersey Conference Bureau?

(i i i) if guidelines have been instituted to evaluate grant applications, in order to establish priorities and

grant levels?

2. I n respect of the Enterprise and Business Development Strategy, would the Minister i n fo r m members -

( i) h ow many individuals have contacted the Economic Development Department in respect of the

various initiatives under the Enterprise and Business Development Scheme and give a breakdown as to how many there have been from each of the finance, agricultural and tourism sectors?

(i i ) h ow many companies or individuals are the Enterprise and Business Development team working

with, and what support is being given?

Answer

1. (i ) T hedepartmenthas in place guidelines to evaluate applications for fundingforevents that take into account the evaluation criteria inFinancialDirectionNo.5.4 Obtaining Value for Money from Grants'. This also includes tourism specific criteria such as: when will the eventbe held (shoulder monthsis preferable), length ofstay, international appeal, brand fit, PR value, spend per capita and estimated income for the island. All applicants for a grantmust present Jersey Tourism with a Business Planand Budget, applications are then carefully consideredusing the above criteria.

( ii ) Yes. Each year an SLA is negotiated and signed between Economic Development and the

Conference Bureau.

(i ii ) As mentioned in (i) all applicants for a grant must present Jersey Tourism with a Business Plan and

Budget, applications are then carefully considered using the set criteria. Successful applicants have to provide the department with a post event evaluation and report.

2. (i )  So farover350 individuals havecontacted the EconomicDevelopmentDepartmentin respect of the various initiatives under the Enterprise and Business Development Strategy. Brokendownby sector as: finance 20, agriculture 20, tourism and hospitality 50, retail 70, distribution 20,manufacturing 20, construction 20, ICT50, design and marketing30, alternative energy (solar) 10, media and marketing 10, property andassetmanagement10,marine and leisure 20.

(i i) T he Enterprise and Business Development team are working with 200 individuals or organisations.

The type of support given varies considerably depending upon the size and nature of the client but generally the support offered is a combination of:

• (a) Providing information to clients about local regulations, where to register for certain licences, what to consider before starting a businesses and details on the type of support available

from either the Economic Development Department or others. (b) Giving general advice to businesses who have started trading and who have a desire to grow and diversify. In some cases this includes referring clients to professionals who can

provide financial, legal, IT, and marketing advice.

• (c) Providing on-going coaching and mentoring for businesses to help minimise the expensive challenges that all business face during their start-up phase or during periods of growth.

• (d) Providing grants to help with the cost of growing new export opportunities and to assist with the cost of developing new innovative ideas. We also provide some security to banks in the

case where a business has no available security to secure a loan and after the bank has undertaken a full evaluation of the likely success of the organisation.