Mention a revolving door in a corporate context and it usually conjures images of a tumultuous business with a high turnover of staff.
Property expert and North East BIC Director, Kevan Carrick, however, uses the term in a far more flattering manner when referring to the organisation which he helped set up 30 years ago.
Since 1994, thousands of aspiring and established business owners have made their way through the BIC’s revolving doors, for a myriad of reasons, boosting the regional economy by billions of pounds in the process.
Be it advice on starting up, funding to scale or accessing its flexible workspace, those who pass through the BIC’s doors enter a new world of opportunities, and a world, which Kevan believes is key to helping the North East economy continue to grow as we look to the future under a new Government and North East Mayor…
What inspired you to get involved in the BIC?
I have been involved in economic growth and development for over five decades. In fact, I was part of the team that secured government funding to start the BIC 30 years ago. I officially became a board member 10 years ago however, and when they invited me to become a director, I didn’t think twice.
My own company, JK Property Consultants, has a real emphasis on delivering social good, meaning we always try and add extra value to the communities we serve, and being involved in the BIC is a great way of us doing just that.
What appealed most however is the fact that it is non-profit making, so whatever money is made, goes straight back into the organisation. It also provides an added value to the region by encouraging businesses to start-up and encouraging businesses to scale. It’s like a revolving door, people are always coming in and out, but for the right reasons. It’s a positive churn.
As one of the founding members of the BIC, how have you seen it grow over the past 30 years?
The BIC, as a not-for-profit organisation, has provided free business start-up support to over 6,000 people over the past 30 years, representing an economic contribution of over £750million.
Home to over 1,100 businesses over three decades, the wider economic impact is estimated at more than £2.5billion, with its range of business support, including innovation advice and grant funding, helping businesses from all walks of life to set up and grow.
It now also has over 250,000 sq. ft. of flexible workspace in Sunderland and Darlington, housing over 400 companies. It’s quite staggering, really.
How has the market performed over the past 12 months?
When it comes to starting up businesses, the North East lags far behind the rest of the UK, so we really need to up our game in that respect. But this has been the case for quite some time, and is something the BIC, along with our partners, are working day-in, day-out to turn around.
Thankfully, the government’s new Industrial Strategy seems to set out ambitions to support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and the new Mayor has also promised a growth plan which addresses this, which we hope will help to further stimulate entrepreneurship in the region.
A more positive picture has also been painted over recent months, thanks to a new approach by the combined authority focused on partnership working. Enterprising Sunderland for example, which is led by the BIC, is a great example of that. Bringing together numerous partners, from business experts to charities supporting those in the hardest to reach areas, it has helped really fill a void for providing business start-up support to those who traditionally may not have tapped into such assistance.
New grants for innovation – supported by the new government and local authorities – have also provided a boost to scaling businesses, but it is still not a patch on what we could offer when we were in the EU.
As it stands, it’s still only around 60% of the funding that we had prior to Brexit, so this is another area which we are hopeful we will see addressed over the coming months and years. We’ve been partnering with others to provide some extra services – but we’d like to build on that. If the Government wants to improve productivity, the best way to do that is to use SMEs as well as inward investment to grow the economy.
As for workspace, the market has been very tight, as running a small business over the last few years has been incredibly challenging. Take-up has fallen year-on-year across the sector. So, while there is more choice available, costs still remain too high, which has had a huge impact on occupancy rates. Yet we have consistently maintained occupancy levels of around 90%.
How has the BIC performed during this period?
Through the aforementioned Enterprising Sunderland programme, and our successful Growth Lab Sunderland events which launched recently, we’ve continued to ramp up our support for new and established businesses.
In fact, we’ve provided advice, support and funding to hundreds of new and established businesses over the past 12 months and have had hundreds more attend our events.
The BIC has also bucked national trends when it comes to workspace, mainly due to its easy in, easy out policy. It’s that revolving door again.
Because we are set up to be flexible and make it easy for businesses to upsize and downsize, we have been able to provide something of a cushion to help provide the softest possible landing for businesses looking to grow.
We have also invested in PV and making our buildings a lot more energy efficient to keep costs down for our customers and help us to achieve carbon net zero. Already, this has seen us reduce our carbon footprint by over 50% in the last 10 years.
What do you think the next 12 months have in store?
Continuing to build on the fantastic partnerships we’ve established over the past 12 months or so will allow us to provide support to even more aspiring and established business owners.
Social Enterprise Boost Durham is a great example of this. Working with the Department for Media, Culture & Sport and Durham County Council, we’ve been able to work with scores of social entrepreneurs across County Durham who may never have previously worked with the BIC.
The same goes for Enterprising Sunderland, where charities such as Back on the Map, Sunderland Bangladeshi International Centre and Sunderland BME Network are helping us really expand our reach.
For me, partnership working is the strongest way to move forward. We are fortunate as a region to have two combined authorities and 12 local authorities, all of whom are happy to work together for the greater good and we are delighted to be part of that effort.
Accommodation wise, we also continue to be highly efficient, with our customers getting real value for money out of what we do, and the skill and resource we’re able to provide through our fantastic teams of advisers will continue to set us apart, so I have no doubt we will continue to add a lot more value to the regional economy as we look ahead.
How will the devolving of more funding and power benefit the region?
Giving the North East a greater say over how money is spent here and a seat at the table when key decisions are being made can only be a positive.
It will allow us to focus on the areas that matter to us most and ensure that the resources and support given to us are channelled through the right people, to the right people.
About Kevan…
As well as being a director at the BIC, Kevan is also a chartered surveyor and co-founder of JK Property Consultants LLP, having advised and delivered major regeneration and development projects. He has operated and worked within large businesses, dealt with mergers and acquisitions and acts a mentor to SMEs. He is an accredited mediator, elected to the short list of six as Commercial Mediator of the Year 2021/2022 National Mediation Awards. He is a member of the RICS Land & Natural Resources Policy Group Panel responding in the public interest to government policy changes. These are his own views and not necessarily those of the RICS.