No Limits is helping to change the enterprise culture of the Pennine Lancashire area

No Limits is a regeneration partnership between three football clubs, four borough councils, Lancashire County Council and a number of local businesses. It aims to change the enterprise culture of the Pennine Lancashire area and transform its economy. The programme secured government funding through the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) to engage with residents of deprived communities and regenerate Pennine Lancashire. It identified a number of factors impacting on the growth of enterprise including a lack of affordable business premises with on-site support, insufficient business role models in the target population and an overwhelming feeling of isolation and loneliness in running a business. Entrepreneurs in Pennine Lancashire are experiencing success as a result of the help provided by No Limits. This is demonstrated by the fact that 83.5% of businesses supported by the project survive beyond the crucial first 12 months. Pennine Lancashire has a proud reputation for manufacturing. Around 26% of its employees work in the manufacturing sector, compared to just 13.8% regionally and 11.9% nationally.

High unemployment

But this reliance on a single trade has meant the area’s economy isn’t as diverse as other places in the North West with low wages and high unemployment putting parts of Pennine Lancashire amongst the 20% most deprived areas in the country. Over 152,000 people, that’s 38% of Pennine Lancashire’s population, live in these deprived communities and it is these residents that the No Limits programme was set up to help. At the start of the programme, 54% of 16-74 year olds were not in employment, 47% had no qualifications and over 30% of working age people were claiming benefits, with benefit dependency often affecting several generations of the same family. The creation of new jobs was crucial in addressing these problems. No Limits was set up to generate this extra capacity by encouraging self employment and stimulating enterprise. All these figures have since reduced significantly – Laurie to add info. No Limits developed a range of interventions focussing on the concept of ‘Enterprise Havens’. Enterprise Havens provide premises, targeted business support and financial assistance for start-up capital and business expansion. They are a physical presence in the heart of disadvantaged communities, enabling engagement in a non-threatening environment. The overall aim is to create an entrepreneurial culture and each Haven has its own individual characteristics and locations, depending on the needs of the community it is based in. One of these Havens is the Pendle Community Enterprise Haven. Based in Pendle’s Housing Market Renewal area has ensured that this venue can be used by local people and embraced as a community building. In order to engage with residents, the venue offers English as a Second Language (ESOL) courses, which have helped to build relationships with members of the local Asian community.

The power of sport

But it is the Havens based in local football clubs that demonstrate the real innovation behind No Limits. The project taps into the power of sport as a way of engaging the wider community and nurturing a greater sense of achievement and aspiration. Three professional clubs – Accrington Stanley FC, Burnley FC and Blackburn Rovers FC – are involved giving links to loyal local fan bases and providing a means to take the No Limits message out onto the terraces and into the surrounding neighbourhoods. Plans are also well advanced for new Havens. T

Accrington Market Hall Haven

The Accrington Market Hall Haven will be located in the heart of the town centre, which will bring the first floor of this Victorian building back into use, providing attractive premises for small scale service businesses. The ‘Darwen Creates’ Entrepreneurship Bridge Haven will be specifically targeting young people, challenging some of the perceived barriers to becoming an entrepreneur. This Haven will capitalise on enterprise potential, and the focus on young people will help to develop enterprise skills and fill the gap in enterprise support for school leavers. Businesses supported by No Limits are deemed “business champions” and act as positive role models to promote entrepreneurial activity.

Graeme Woodworth

A great example of these champions is Graeme Woodworth, a member of the community who had been working for a local accountancy firm for 20 years. No Limits helped Graeme get his business, GRW Accounting Solutions, up and running and seven months down the line he is celebrating a growing clientele and looking to expand his one-man enterprise. After deciding to take the plunge, the first thing Graeme considered was finding a business space. He was told about the office space at Blackburn Rovers Enterprise Haven and, after meeting with the staff there, Graeme signed up for one of their smaller offices. Not long after moving in, Graeme’s curiosity led him to further investigate what No Limits had to offer. He took advantage of free business training opportunities and attended a series of networking events, giving him the perfect opportunity to promote his business and build his contacts. The No Limits Enterprise Havens have provided an innovative model to encourage many more people to set up their own business. But this model was designed two years ago before the onset of the credit crunch. Although the model already had finance elements within it, these have now been finessed and adapted to cope with the challenges for budding entrepreneurs in the current economic climate. No Limits can now provide a mix of start up grants and business loans to ensure that any good business plan can still be progressed even if the banks are not able to help. Within five years, the Pennine Lancashire No Limits programme will have brought about a major shift in enterprise culture and the performance of the local economy within deprived neighbourhoods, achieving true sustained transformation. Future generations in Pennine Lancashire will regard enterprise and entrepreneurship as a natural process - this is the legacy of the No Limits programme and the Havens it created. The Havens will increase confidence in the economic prospects of Pennine Lancashire, improving the perception of enterprise as a career choice amongst people living in the area’s deprived communities.

Find out about the winners of Enterprising Britain 2009.