In March 2019, West London Business have been commissioned to undertake a research project on the digital upskilling needs of SMEs for the LEAP/London Growth Hub at City Hall.
The project aims to:
- Research past interventions into digital up-skilling of SMEs across 4 sectors (Social Care, Retail, Hospitality and Construction/Property) to see what has worked across London, the UK and internationally
- Prepare case studies on each of the above sectors
- Convene four workshops across London with SMEs trading for more than a year in each of these sectors
- Undertake a survey on the barriers and opportunities for the same group
- Make recommendations for the LEAP on how they can best support SMEs to digitally up-skill in the future
The workshops took place across London (Croydon, Ealing, Southgate and Newham) where experts from the above sectors came to present case studies of good practice in these four sectors. Attendees – London SMEs that have been trading for at least a year – were also asked to share the challenges they are facing, as well as good practices they’ve experienced and/or observed.
West London Business is now calling all SMEs in social care, retail, hospitality/tourism and property/construction, that have been trading for at least to participate in the research by completing this survey. The results of the survey will inform recommendations to the London Growth Hub and shape City Hall’s policies on digital upskilling for SMEs.
West London Business are looking to present their recommendations to the London Growth Hub at the end of June.
