As part and parcel of globalisation, there has been an unprecedented rise in the volume of international migration throughout the world over the past two decades. Cheaper travel and the rise of cyber communication have “shrunk” the world, enabling growing numbers to move in search of economic opportunities and freedom from persecution. Increasingly, this is being reflected in new migrants establishing businesses, often in a desperate attempt to make ends meet and find economic refuge in their new ‘home’. Many western Europeans have witnessed this phenomenon, resulting in renewed attention to the role that academics and policy-makers can play in casting light on this process.
De Montfort University’s
Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) is a leading contributor to policy and academic debates in this field. Its international work was boosted in 2008 when CREME’s Director,
Professor Monder Ram, was appointed Visiting Professor at Lund University in Sweden. In addition to initiating a programme of research on ethnic minority entrepreneurship at Lund, Professor Ram’s role also involves supporting policy and practitioner initiatives at the
Herbert Felix Institute (HFI), located in the Skåne region.
Following a series of successful exchanges between the institutions, CREME hosted a two-day visit of a 17-strong delegation from Sweden on 12 - 13 April 2010. The Swedish delegates comprised researchers from the universities of Lund and Malmö, members from national, regional and local government, and practitioners involved in supporting new migrant businesses. The delegation was interested in diversity, entrepreneurship and community cohesion, and were keen to learn more about CREME’s work and related initiatives from other UK stakeholders with an interest in this field.
CREME convened a programme for the visit that combined presentations on practitioner initiatives combined with academic discussion.
Fiona Hodgkinson of the
East Midlands Development Agency commenced proceedings with an overview of the work of the national
Ethnic Minority Business Advocacy Network (EMBAN). Delegates heard about EMBAN’s plans to develop a strategic approach to supporting ethnic minority entrepreneurs across the nine English regions.
Charlene Arnold,
East Midlands Business Ltd., provided a regional perspective on business support for small enterprises, and outlined the impact of a recent project on new migrant businesses that her organisation had undertaken in collaboration with CREME. Ethnic diversity in Leicester was the key theme of
Dr Trish Roberts-Thomson’s talk. From her vantage point as lead Policy Officer for Community Cohesion at Leicester City Council, Dr Roberts-Thomson gave a fascinating account of Leicester’s imminent transition to becoming the UK’s first ‘majority-minority’ city. Leading UK researchers on ethnic minority businesses,
Professors Trevor Jones and
Dave McEvoy, joined the delegation in the afternoon to discuss a major Swedish project to enumerate immigrant entrepreneurs. The delegates had a more informal experience of local diversity in the evening, when they sampled the cuisine of one of Leicester’s leading curry restaurants.
The morning of April 13 was taken up by contributions from representatives of the four Centres of Expertise established by
Advantage West Midlands (AWM). These Centres represent a major investment by AWM to promote diversity in the small business population. CREME runs the Centre responsible for ethnic minority businesses; there are others on gender, social enterprise and young people. The Swedish delegates were extremely keen to share their experiences and explore how they might translate some of the lessons arising from their visit to their own context. As the programme drew to a close at lunch time, they spoke enthusiastically about hosting a reciprocal visit. Fortunately, they were able to return to Sweden just before the untimely arrival of volcanic ash from their Scandinavian neighbours.
-Prof Monder Ram
