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| Steve Saunders from PwC sets delegates straight: growth is all about competitiveness |
At the University of Northampton, public sector spin-out platform, the
Transition Institute, announced today that the
university was to become a strategic partner for the Institute. Also, Professor
Simon Denny, the man charged with enabling Northampton to become the UK’s first
social enterprise university, is to join the Institute's board.
Speaking on behalf of the Institute, its
Chair, Allison Ogden-Newton, said, “We are delighted to welcome the creative input of
Northampton, which is fast establishing itself as at the forefront of social
enterprise development. Its energy and expertise will be a fantastic addition
and helps us take the debate on the future of public services up a gear.”
Simon told the audience, "If the
level of debate and contribution at today’s event was anything to go by, the
university's decision to become a partner of the Institute is one it is
unlikely to ever regret.”
This announcement came at the latest Transition
Institute Camp on scaling up, where those who want to spin out services or want to bid for new service contracts can learn
from the market leaders and industry experts, and share their experience and
questions adding to developing research.
Steve Saunders, Director of
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), sparked a lively debate about preparing to thrive
in an increasingly competitive market. He charged participants to think about
why they think the service they provide is different, what they want to be
remembered for and to really scrutinise where the market for that is.
Paul Jansen, consultant at Stepping Out, the
specialist service for spin-outs, described this sector as a market that is in
its infancy. He compared spin-outs to the motor industry in the 1930s where there
was excitement for the novelty for a revolutionary form of transport, but where
efficiency and speed had not yet been achieved. Paul made the point that we
need to recognise the innovation sparked through independent service providers and
told his audience about social enterprise, the National Migraine Centre which
is a world leader in headache services that has developed therapies and
treatments previously unheard of in the NHS. In that sense the
services available at the centre are not spun out, but have achieved unique
complementary status so common in social enterprise where innovation can be
easier to develop than in the mainstream.
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| Owen Wilcox from TTP Law |
Owen Wilcox, a partner at TTP Law, filled
delegates in on the legal dos and don’ts of going it alone and illustrated his
points with apocryphal tales of social enterprises that have failed, such as
Secure Healthcare, which closed after only three years because it did not anticipate the potential impact of its
contractual obligations and started with an inappropriate corporate structure. Owen took delegates through
the treacherous waters of TUPE and asset transfer and pointed them to early
adopters looking at the secrets to their success.
Working with Sabina Khan, advisor to the Institute, delegates discussed and analysed the Institute's latest research Scaling up your business: expansion models for spin-outs, written by Dan Gregory. The enthusiasm of delegates derived some insightful observations that came from their considerable experience in the field.
Delegate Richard Catherall of Katarsis
Ventures contributed to the debate by making the point that outsourcing authorities often go for
scale thereby missing vital potential. “Local authorities like large things sometimes
simply because they are big, which doesn’t acknowledge that an opportunity of
spin-outs are to spin services apart.
The focus is often around the spin-out and in actual fact it’s an opportunity for
the parent body to change. It’s not just about the egg, it's about the chicken … which
came first incidentally."
All of the comments made at the event were captured and will be reflected in the final version of the research available on line at the Transition Institute.
