Experts at Leeds Beckett University, with business support provider Exemplas, have designed a series of new approaches to boosting the productivity and growth of West Yorkshire SMEs, through a partnership delivery of business support and academic research.
The team have worked together since 2022, delivering grassroots SME business support programmes on behalf of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), including the West Yorkshire Business Boost and Business Productivity Service, to explore new strategies for enhancing SME productivity and growth.
They have now launched a series of four publications – sharing the research evidence and design principles that informed the business support programmes, as well as insights, trends and learning from the programmes and the extensive data they have collected from working with more than 600 SMEs in the region.
The series describes how this led the team to creating an evidence-based and research-informed blueprint for the successful design and delivery of grassroots business support programmes to SMEs.
Dr Ollie Jones, Principal Lecturer in Operations and Business Performance Management at Leeds Beckett University, said: “We believe this blueprint is pertinent at a time when government and commissioners will be looking to invest in interventions that drive productivity and growth for SMEs. Importantly, our work focuses on delivering benefits to local economies.
“The triple learning loop, and the data and insights gathered through the partnership delivery with Leeds Beckett, Exemplas and WYCA, have been invaluable in developing a greater understanding of firm-level productivity and successful approaches to its improvement at scale.”
Martin Coats, Chief Operations Officer at Exemplas, said: “The partnership with Leeds Beckett has been instrumental in delivering best-in-class business support programmes. By blending academic rigor with real-world business expertise, we can deliver transformative support that addresses the productivity and growth barriers facing SMEs.”
The Insight Papers were launched at an event held at The Knowledge Exchange at Leeds Beckett University ahead of National Productivity Week from 27 to 31 January. The event highlighted the complexity of firm-level productivity and the unique value of Leeds Beckett’s innovative diagnostic tools.
