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Sturgess Van Damme
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Telephone: +044 01275 390 552
Business opportunities from “the big society”
Boardrooms in the South West may be tempted to view David Cameron‘s enthusiasm for The Big Society as “jolly worthy, but of no business relevance”.
Wrong!
It could be, and should be, a real business opportunity. The PM has pinned his political reputation on this, so do not miss the boat by assuming it is just a PR stunt.
How can it be a business opportunity for you?
1. More information
Businesses will be able to create services based on the opening-up of all Government data.
Entrepreneurial pioneers are already doing it: Jeff Gilfelt trawled through data.gov.uk (you can, too) to discover statistics for anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs). He created an i-phone map-app, enabling potential house-buyers to see the level of ASBOs for any area they are considering: that early app recorded 150,000 downloads!
Imagine what you could find in the newly opened government data that will reveal new markets and opportunities for your business.
2. More money
At a time when we are all worried about Government cuts, the Big Society Bank will harness somewhere between £40 million and £500 million (opinions vary) of dormant bank accounts to fund Big Society projects from next Spring. Those projects will provide business opportunities.
3. Less quangos
The cull of regional and national quangos is a golden opportunity for nimble businesses, which have long complained about those quangos not doing as good a job as your business could do!
The quangos are going, but some of what they do still needs to be done. A private sector body, Global Action Plan (which already advises such clients as Sky and Allianz) is watching whether the Government-funded quango, the Carbon Trust, will be abolished – because they can fill that gap.
In the South West, many of the roles provided or funded by the doomed quangos can be replaced by businesses. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will not have the skills or capabilities to fulfil all those roles.
A business-led transitional body has already been formed to fill the gap that will be left by the death of the RDA-funded South West Tourism agency.
There will be new business opportunities to provide:
• International inward investment
• Property asset-management & development
• Project management (civil servants are caught in the headlights, and reluctant to progress anything)
• Etc…..
4. More opportunities for more businesses
David Cameron has recognised the civil service tendency to place contracts with the “big suppliers” (ie, the old idea that “you can‘t be fired for choosing IBM”). Civil servants were used to being given a project-target – not a tight budget.
This is the opportunity for smaller businesses to offer Government a better/cheaper way of doing things.
5. “Localism” is a business opportunity
“Localism” is at the heart of the coalition government‘s policy: this provides a range of business opportunities if your business can identify, develop, and deliver support services to local communities.
Jabbakam, a business providing CCTV services, has already spotted the opportunity to provide services to The Big Society‘s upgraded neighbourhood watch scheme.
6. The Big Society is a short-cut to CSR
Anything you choose to do in support of The Big Society becomes a major component in your business‘s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) credentials – to be highlighted in your literature, your website, and your tender-documents!
Boardrooms in the South West may be tempted to view David Cameron‘s enthusiasm for The Big Society as “jolly worthy, but of no business relevance”.
Wrong!
It could be, and should be, a real business opportunity. The PM has pinned his political reputation on this, so do not miss the boat by assuming it is just a PR stunt.
How can it be a business opportunity for you?
1. More information
Businesses will be able to create services based on the opening-up of all Government data.
Entrepreneurial pioneers are already doing it: Jeff Gilfelt trawled through data.gov.uk (you can, too) to discover statistics for anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs). He created an i-phone map-app, enabling potential house-buyers to see the level of ASBOs for any area they are considering: that early app recorded 150,000 downloads!
Imagine what you could find in the newly opened government data that will reveal new markets and opportunities for your business.
2. More money
At a time when we are all worried about Government cuts, the Big Society Bank will harness somewhere between £40 million and £500 million (opinions vary) of dormant bank accounts to fund Big Society projects from next Spring. Those projects will provide business opportunities.
3. Less quangos
The cull of regional and national quangos is a golden opportunity for nimble businesses, which have long complained about those quangos not doing as good a job as your business could do!
The quangos are going, but some of what they do still needs to be done. A private sector body, Global Action Plan (which already advises such clients as Sky and Allianz) is watching whether the Government-funded quango, the Carbon Trust, will be abolished – because they can fill that gap.
In the South West, many of the roles provided or funded by the doomed quangos can be replaced by businesses. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will not have the skills or capabilities to fulfil all those roles.
A business-led transitional body has already been formed to fill the gap that will be left by the death of the RDA-funded South West Tourism agency.
There will be new business opportunities to provide:
• International inward investment
• Property asset-management & development
• Project management (civil servants are caught in the headlights, and reluctant to progress anything)
• Etc…..
4. More opportunities for more businesses
David Cameron has recognised the civil service tendency to place contracts with the “big suppliers” (ie, the old idea that “you can‘t be fired for choosing IBM”). Civil servants were used to being given a project-target – not a tight budget.
This is the opportunity for smaller businesses to offer Government a better/cheaper way of doing things.
5. “Localism” is a business opportunity
“Localism” is at the heart of the coalition government‘s policy: this provides a range of business opportunities if your business can identify, develop, and deliver support services to local communities.
Jabbakam, a business providing CCTV services, has already spotted the opportunity to provide services to The Big Society‘s upgraded neighbourhood watch scheme.
6. The Big Society is a short-cut to CSR
Anything you choose to do in support of The Big Society becomes a major component in your business‘s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) credentials – to be highlighted in your literature, your website, and your tender-documents!