Agenda item

(1)       Mr Samson introduced himself as the Trade Development Manager within KCC’s International Affairs Team.  His primary role was to focus on European co-operation and project development and until 2009 this had involved work in helping to secure Interreg funding for KCC and a variety of Kent-based organisations.  His focus was now primarily on international trade promotion.

(2)       Mr Samson went on to give a presentation on Kent’s role in EU Funding and International Trade Development.  He began by describing it as identifying opportunities; shaping and influencing programmes; developing strategic projects with key partners; and supporting project development (and appraisal) and project delivery.  KCC needed to ensure that the programmes and projects accorded with its priorities.  A lot of KCC’s work involved mapping these priorities against opportunities within EU funding streams.

(3)       Mr Samson continued by outlining the factors that enabled KCC to achieve success with projects supporting core business.  The first of these was the dedicated staff resource and expertise, leading to an understanding of the programmes and developing excellent connections to programme bodies and partners.  Staff members had become very familiar with the EU funding mechanisms and had the support of well-established partnerships, enabling them to focus on Interreg cross-border programmes, in line with KCC’s priorities.

(4)       Mr Samson contrasted the positive factors with reasons that opportunities had been missed, particularly in wider pan-European and thematic programmes in areas such as environmental protection and innovation. He said this was due to a general lack of awareness of the opportunities and staff capacity (a number of project staff having left KCC).  Budgetary pressures had the potential to jeopardise match funding (which for the majority of funding programme to date had been 50%).   Awareness of EU funding opportunities within the KCC Directorates was also variable.  The Enterprise and Environment Directorate was very proactive in this field, whereas FSC and ELS posed a greater challenge, requiring awareness-raising within their Directorate Management Teams. 

(5)       Mr Samson went on to identify the risks and challenges associated with EU Funding.  He said that as a result of diminishing staff resources, it had become more difficult to monitor, identify and raise awareness of EU funding opportunities, and to support project development within all the KCC Directorates.  Another challenge was posed by the complex project management and eligibility requirements. The External Funding Finance Unit performed an essential service in ensuring that the funding bids were duly and correctly prepared and delivered.   There was a widespread misunderstanding of the purposes of EU funding. The Economic Development Team often received calls asking for EU assistance for local activities such as renovating community facilities (which would not usually meet the eligibility criteria).  Lastly, negative media coverage (particularly of non-flagship projects) tended to increase the difficulty of raising awareness of the opportunities available.

(6)       Mr Samson then described the Kent International Business Programme (KIB) which had received a “Highly Commended” award in the 2013 Enterprising Britain Awards.   KIB had been set up in 2011 in response to a study which had identified that only 8% of Kent firms regularly exported despite the county’s location.  This was lower that the South East average of 10%.   One of the reasons for this was that whilst there had been a lot of support for potential investors, there had also been confusion instead of cohesion and coordination.  It was also recognised that international trade could be daunting, especially as a consequence of perceived barriers such as language & cultural differences, additional costs and regulation.

(7)       Mr Samson said that KIB’s aims and objectives were to raise awareness of the benefits of international trade (for the local economy); to boost Kent’s export levels and promote business growth; to ensure that the trade support services in Kent were more coherent, joined-up and visible; and to provide relevant support to Kent companies through the KIB partnership. 

(8)       Mr Samson said that KIB was led by KCC and that its key organisations were UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).  There were 12 other partners, may of whom are business membership organisations.  The District Councils also backed the partnership through the Kent Economic Development Officers Group.  KIB would also work with other agencies on an ad hoc basis.

(9)       Mr Samson then described some of the KIB activities.  It undertook awareness-raising, including the establishment of the KIB website which enabled all elements of trade support to be brought together in one place.  It arranged local events, which could be sector, topic or market specific.  One of these had been the UKTI Export Week event which had been attended by representatives from 130 businesses.  It had sponsored a Kent Excellence in Business Award (KEIBA) for ‘success in international markets’ enabling KIB to identify flagship companies which could provide examples and inspiration to others. It had secured EU funding to deliver international support programmes in Kent through the EEN, the Chain 2 Project and the 2 Seas Trade Project. 

(10)     Mr Samson briefly explained that EEN was a project run by BSK-CIC in Kent to help companies identify contacts and other support to companies involved in international trade.  The Chain 2 Project aimed to support businesses in developing trade links and collaborations between southern England and northern France.

(11)     Mr Samson set out future KIB activities.  These would include accessing EU Strategic Investment Fund Programme (EU SIF) funding for work with UKTI including intelligence gathering, sector specific support, market visits and Trade Fairs.  

(12)     Mr Samson moved on to consideration of The 2 Seas Trade Project.  This was a project led by KCC, incorporating 9 partner organisations including Chambers of Commerce in Belgium and the Netherlands.  Its purpose was to provide market entry support into English, Dutch, Flemish and French markets for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kent, Nord-Pas de Calais, East Flanders, West Flanders and the South West of the Netherlands.  The Project had secured 700,000 euros of EU funding.  Its activities included local business workshops, 1-2-1 support visits, trade fairs and market visits as well as other advice and information.   It was important for Kentish enterprises to appreciate that West Flanders, East Flanders and the South West of the Netherlands were all good start-up markets due to their prosperity and the ease of access to them.

(13)     Mr Samson briefly gave examples of market visits arranged by The 2 Seas Project for various sectors (Logistics, Interior Design and Water Waste Management).  He then said that the Food and Drink sector had taken up a free stand space at a Trade Fair, leading to the development of new selling markets. 

(14)     Mr Samson concluded his presentation by summarising the 2 Seas project outputs. There had been 15 business workshops in Kent, attended by 162 Kent businesses. There had been a 2 Seas project stand at 4 international trade fairs, 7 sector-focused market visits attended by 102 companies.   309 Kent companies were involved in the project, 346 individual participants from Kent businesses. The total number of companies supported by the project in the entire region of Kent, East and West Flanders, the South West of the Netherlands and Nord-Pas de Calais was 564.

(15)     Mr Truelove asked whether the farming industry in Kent was performing better as a result of the projects described.  Mr Samson replied that it was difficult for him to be sure as most of his work in that area was with the food and drink sector.  Nevertheless, there were great opportunities for the farming industry, particularly as much of Kent’s produce was at the high quality end of the market.  He believed that proper research would identify the most rewarding parts of Europe to export to.

(16)     In response to questions from Mr Daley, Mr Samson said that his personal role was now around 20% Interreg-based.  The way in which partners were found for Kent organisations was usually through historic ties and contacts. 

(17)     Mr Samson said that the Joint Technical Secretariat in Lille had the task of administering and reviewing projects. For the past 7 years, KCC had held a seat on the Project Selection Committee, enabling the County Council to have an influence on the decisions taken on behalf of local authorities in the SE. 

(18)     Mr Samson agreed with Mr Daley that the 2 Seas Project was more beneficial to Kent in terms of developing markets than to its partner regions. This was because for historical and geographical reasons, Kentish businesses tended to need more support in availing themselves of the opportunities that European markets provided whereas Belgian and Dutch companies have traditionally been more open to export.

(19)     Mr Marsh commented that the Brussels Office had been a significant factor in the success of KCC’s European work as it was able to monitor what was happening in the rest of the region.  He asked whether there would be significant benefits if staff numbers were increased.  Mr Samson replied that he believed that Brussels Office colleagues were well placed to monitor EU funding opportunities arising from the pan-European programmes, usually administered in Brussels. 

(20)     Mrs Stockell asked why so many Kentish companies were missing out on the opportunities for export. Mr Samson replied that feedback from companies indicated that they had either not considered the possibilities or that they had believed that the risks and complexities were too great.

(21)     Mr Lymer asked for an assessment of the ED Team’s intelligent marketing and research capacity. Mr Samson said that the ED team did map out the key sectors. Individual companies were able to register their profiles with UKTI who provided initial advice on export-readiness.  He agreed with Mr Lymer that there could be considerable opportunities in the sphere of second hand products where the UK was at the forefront. There could, however, be restrictions on certain second hand products such as machine parts.  Such companies would need to obtain specialist advice on the viability of exporting certain products. Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, for example can provide a range of services to support with export paperwork.

(22)     Mrs Frampton asked whether the ED team was able to measure project outcomes. Mr Samson replied that it was hard to keep a central record of individual project outcomes although final reports from project were always made available. There was also an expectation from the EU funding bodies that reporting and evaluation takes place within all projects.

(23)     Mr Samson agreed with Mr Daley that working with French partners could, on occasion, be a challenging experience due to different working cultures.  On the other hand, the links between Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais were very good whenever the right project was identified.

(24)     Mr Samson summed up by saying that the target was to raise the percentage of Kentish businesses that regularly exported to 10%.  Achieving this would require an additional 1000 companies to export. Currently, some 300 companies have been supported by the 2 Seas Trade project but orders and contracts often follow several months or years after a support intervention. Meanwhile, KIB was looking at SE LEP programmes.  East and West Flanders and SW Netherlands had indicated that they wished to continue working in partnership with KCC and that this could include developing a second trade development Project.