Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Enterprise
The Regional Economic Strategy (RES) identifies that an
additional 80,000 of the Northwest's population need to be in
employment to reach the national employment average and close
the productivity gap. The region also needs an extra 38,000
businesses in order to reach the England average in terms of
business density.
Within the Northwest, 72% of the indigenous population is
economically active, compared to 52% of the BME population. This
represents a figure of 48,000 non-economically active BME
people.
Many BME businesses have succeeded to date, despite facing
obstacles such as lack of access to finance and Government business
support structures, coupled with a lower level of skills. Clearly,
therefore, the BME business population in the Northwest has the
potential to make an even greater contribution to the regional
economy. As such, the BME population is a key target group for
businesses start-up and survival support.
- The current BME population in the region accounts for 5.6% of
the regional population, compared to 7.9% nationally. The
regional BME population of working age is 230,000.
- A significant percentage of the BME community live and work in
some of the most deprived wards in the region.
- There are 19,000 BME businesses employing 56,000 workers, of
which 45,000 are from the BME community.
- Most BME businesses are small, with less than five people.
Many are family-owned.
Ethnic Minority Business Forum Northwest (EMBF
NW)
The EMBF NW is the key policy advisory and strategic body
responsible for the development of sustainable BME business in the
region. It provides strategic leadership and policy advice to the
Agency and other stakeholders in order to bolster support for BME
businesses, helping them to maximise their full potential for the
benefit of the region’s economy.
The vision of the EMBF NW is: “to create an outstanding
enterprise culture where the Northwest is internationally
recognised and held up as a beacon for generating world class BME
businesses which are outperforming the rest and are generating
significant wealth and jobs for the economy.”
EMBF NW comprises a number of voluntary board members whose task
it is to drive policy-making activities and ensure good governance.
The board draws upon the expertise of individuals who have a wealth
of experience of BME business issues from both the private and
public sector. The EMBF NW has strong, direct links to the BME
business community through its board members and delivery
partners.
Northwest Ethnic Minority Business Awards
The Northwest Ethnic Minority Business Awards, established by
the EMBF, recognise the huge contribution that BME individuals and
businesses make to the regional economy.
Read more about
the Awards and the 2008 winners