Our Chair’s Annual Review and Directors’ Report

Two years of simplification and client focus

Over the last two financial years, Wenta has simplified its business model and reshaped its services with one thing in mind, improving the client journey. This year we are pleased to see the acceleration of these improvements for clients across all of the Wenta business support activities. This is particularly pleasing when viewed against the backdrop of independent data from the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), which indicates starting and maintaining an early start business has got a whole lot tougher over the last two years.

Partnerships

During the year, through our South East Midlands Start-up Programme (SEMSUP), we worked even more closely with the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP). This also involved our wider partners, The University of Northampton and The University of Bedfordshire. The benefit of this collaboration was significant growth; on business starts, jobs created, workshops delivered and free service hours provided across the area.

To support this work, we embarked on an exciting new partnership and programme with the Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce. The Beds Productivity and Growth Programme is funded by Wenta and supported by a collaboration with socially minded businesses in the Bedfordshire area. In year one, we have supported a number of businesses with growth challenges across a spectrum of specialist advice areas: Marketing, IP, Finance and Legal.

Wenta has been present in Hertfordshire for thirty-six years and is a valuable asset to a broad range of communities.

In Hertfordshire, Wenta leads the partnership programme with the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Hertfordshire LEP), St Albans Enterprise Agency (STANTA) and Dacorum Borough Council to deliver the Herts-wide business start-up and growth programme. Since commencing this business support programme in Hertfordshire, we have delivered 24,982 hours of support, created 402 jobs, delivered 566 business starts and paid out £157,750 in grants to new businesses.

Across our other services, nationally, Wenta delivered just short of 5,000 individual advice sessions online, on our business support live chat service.

Elsewhere digitally, we have partnered with organisations such as ‘Startuploans.co.uk’, ‘Ask If’ and ‘Finpoint’ to support our existing grant giving activities and to extend the opportunity for small businesses to access finance.

In our business centres we have invested in our buildings and upgraded our incubator services with two new Collaboration Stations.

When these services and partnerships are combined, we see a growing and changing picture of the impact that Wenta has delivered:

15,979 hours of support provided up from 15,277 in 2017-18

373 business starts up from 290 in 2017-18

264 jobs created up from 190 in 2017-18

Digitalisation and innovation

Wenta continues to develop its services digitally. Improvements to all our digital channels have provided more choice to clients about how, when and where they want their service to be delivered. All free to the client and all provided by a not-forprofit social enterprise.

Our outstanding partnership with Stevenage Borough Council was secured again towards the end of our financial year. Together we will collaborate for another five years to deliver a range of inclusive services to the wider community.

The staff and Board of Wenta are rightly proud of the year passed. The staff team have responded to the strategic challenge to adapt our services, creating a more productive and efficient model.

The staff and Board of Wenta are rightly proud of the year passed. The staff team have responded to the strategic challenge to adapt our services, creating a more productive and efficient model.

Zoe Hancock Wenta Chair

Investment

Our confidence and independent values are further supported by our prudent approach to managing our precious resources. In the year ahead we will use our step change in performance to set out a range of investment funds to support our strategy and investment in the Enterprise sector; our new business centre investment acquisition fund of £1,100,000, our service innovation investment fund of £300,000 and our cyclical repair investment fund of £300,000.

We will be accelerating investment in technology-based solutions for clients and to better equip our staff to deliver more effectively. We intend to further embed our organisational values as an underpinning of everything that we do to deliver even more services, with more innovation in a sustainable manner.