An integral part of STOB Regions is the establishment of a Regional stakeholder Group, whereby the key players from regional organizations involved in the policy making process and implementation measures meet to identify, analyze and exchange activities, knowledge and practices between on the topic of succession and transfer of business in the region. Alongside the interregional learning events, these outputs from these meetings form the basis of the development of the regional action plan.
All partners held their own Regional Stakeholder Group meeting in Q1 2018, however we focus on STOB Regions Spanish partner, Official Chamber of Commerce, Seville, who held their 3rd Regional stakeholder group meeting on 13.3.2018.
Eight regional experts attended from the following organizations:
Andalusian Centers of Entrepreneurship (CADEs), Regional Government Agency. Who act as facilitators and support potential buyers, mainly through the establishment of cooperatives.
Chair in Family Business, University of Seville. Founded in 2001, is focused on the research and dissemination of academic studies revolving around the topic succession and business transfer.
Japon y MataríConsultores. A private advisory and consulting firm specializing in succession and business transfer.
Montero Aramburu Abogados. Law firm, specializing in family and business law.
After a round of introductions, the meeting transitioned towards the topic of target groups of potential buyers and regional good practices of relevance. Key discussion points relating this topic include:
- Importance of developing and utilizing common standards and indicators in order to accurately assess the value of companies, in the hope to achieve consistency and thus offer consistent services.
- Actively involving entrepreneurs in the business sector
- The role of employees and raising awareness(know-how & continuity) to create cooperatives as a buyer group in business transfer.
- Regional stakeholder group's organizations should lead the approach to raise awareness of the challenges of succession and business transfer amongst business owners as they possess the tools and competencies.
The meeting's outputs were a success and provided the stakeholder attending the next Interregional event with a forum to develop ideas to present at the next meeting.