The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) have delivered e-business advice for many years via the existing Chambers of Commerce network, fostering and developing e-business for its members by working to identify and spread best practice. BCC in partnership with UK online for Business, BT, Hewlett-Packard and O2 developed the eBusiness Clubs pilot programme to test how to provide small-to-medium enterprises, with the essential information, business support and practical advice they need to blend e-business practices into their businesses. Club members have privileged access to a club programme of events and workshops. Members can Pick-n-Mix from networking events, seminars, downloadable documents, business guides, expert training, consultation, bespoke meetings, online forums and competitions - each local club tailors its 'offer' to meet local needs of its members.
The eBusiness Clubs is an extremely strong concept that has now been tested in a two year pilot by the Accredited Chambers of Commerce Network with private sector funding and public sector investment at National, Regional and Local level. The pilot has already proven as a concept it can attract an existing membership of 20,000 UK businesses - expected to be 28,000 by June 2004. The eBusiness Clubs provide a unique opportunity to aid the growth and employment prospects of businesses within the geographical boundaries of all Regional Development Agencies (RDA) and the Devolved Administrations of Scotland and Wales.
In the initial 2 pilot years, BCC tested a range of different types of club, at local, sub regional and regional levels. BCC has identified that the pan-region eBusiness Clubs (Scotland, Wales, London and East Midlands) and Sub-Regional eBusiness Clubs (West Yorkshire & South Yorkshire) increased the reach of the programme into a wider pool of SMEs than other models. The pilot partners have concluded that the proposed approach should be regional and BCC and the lead chambers in each region are therefore now seeking to work with RDAs in a new and exciting eBusiness Clubs programme to be rolled-out across the UK on a region-by-region basis. During these pilots CNR helped organise and facilitated a series of best practice-sharing meetings for chambers staff and their partners in local agencies - and acted as channel managers for the Achieving best practice in your business programme at the Department of Trade & Industry to maximise returns on this innovative programme.
