Communities thrive on an Italian recipe

The Sirolli Method is a simple but powerful way of developing and harnessing local strengths with minimal bureaucracy. In 2005 the then Scottish Executive decided to fund three pilot projects to test the approach and early results from the scheme suggest they are delivering successes.

The pilot programmes were for two years each, at a cost to the public purse of around £100,000 each, with local projects responsible for finding another £50,000-£60,000 a year. These test cases were to conducted in a rural area, a market region and a city.

The first tender was won by Kintyre, which has in the past relied heavily on farming, fishing and whisky. Eastern Perthshire was next, an area of agriculture, specialist retail and small- scale manufacturing centred on Blairgowrie. The final programme started seven months ago in Dundee.

In Africa, Sirolli felt unhappy about the way aid and regeneration groups were imposing their values and judgments on people in poor communities. His alternative to this top-down model was one of community empowerment. It takes people in the community with ideas and gives them practical, individual mentoring, chanelling their passion. He gives them access to local people who possess the skills to help propel the original idea from their mind into the marketplace.

In the three pilot areas, panels of volunteers from the community have been established with knowledge and skills that their clients can draw upon. These may include, for example, doctors, lawyers, accountants, businesspeople, IT experts or artists.

An enterprise facilitator with proven business experience is employed and can be contacted by anyone who has a business idea. Free and confidential meetings are set up at the client's chosen place and time. Thereafter, the facilitator will provide information tailored to the person and will act as a go-between, introducing them to others in the community, or the panel, who can offer support.

More often than not, this could be someone half a mile down the road or over the field, rather than from outside. Fiona McPhail, the Sirolli enterprise facilitator responsible for eastern Perthshire, says she has more meetings in people's kitchens or fields than she ever does around a desk.

"We are getting people working together who didn't know about each other before," says Fiona.

"It is about getting people to meet others comfortably and finding out how they can support each other. There are a lot of hidden businesses in rural areas and people working from home. It is about networking in the nice way as opposed to a brash way. It is the softer side of help, but it is incredibly powerful."

"The idea is really simple," says McPhail, who uprooted her life from Grampian because she was so taken by Sirolli's teaching. "Unlike other enterprise agencies, we don't have a whole infrastructure to feed or targets to meet: this is one-to-one and practical. We can work out what people really need and put them in touch with others in their local area who will help them take the next step."

So far in eastern Perthshire, 17 new enterprises have been started, 10 expanded, 26 new jobs created and 61 local jobs retained. In total, it is estimated that £275,000 of new capital has been injected into businesses in the region since McPhail spoke to her first client.

Meanwhile, since its inception in Kintyre, the Sirolli programme run by a community incorporated company, Opportunity Kintyre Ltd, has assisted the creation, expansion or retention of 12 businesses.

One business has been acquired, 18 local jobs have been retained and the net contribution to the economy has been in the region of £500,000.Perhaps more impressively, 8900 volunteer hours have been given by local people to assist the region's growth.

One business which has grown on the back of Sirolli mentoring is Motorvate in Perthshire, run by former teacher David McCaw and two partners. The company works with children with co-ordination and learning difficulties. Motorvate operates in schools around Perthshire, Tayside, Angus and Fife, and with social services, social work, foster carers and agencies like Adoption UK. The children are helped to develop fine motor skills, which assists learning.

"We had a lot of experience but were maybe quite naive in a business sense," admits David, 42, from Perth. "We heard about the Sirolli project through a friend of one of the business partners from Coupar Angus and Fiona came to one of our meetings.

"We had been to places like Business Gateway and they were good, but you never came out thinking you were any further forward. It was not as individualised as what Fiona offered.

"She was quick with getting feedback and information we needed. Because you are networking with local people, you can establish long-term relationships.

"The nature of the support is very direct. Fiona got things moving very quickly for us."

Aside from getting the business up and running, David believes the Sirolli principle of locality also saved Motorvate money. As a result, the revenue generated remained in the area - helping sustainable growth.

"Fiona made us look to our own networks of contacts. For things like our logo, advertising, corporate image, there were actually people we knew around us who had the skills," says David.

In Kintyre, enterprise facilitator Lynn Hammal has just registered her 100th client. When a call centre closed in Campbeltown with the loss of 24 jobs, Sirolli methodology helped galvanise the community. The creation of 18 new jobs was significant.

"Eighteen jobs in an area like Kintyre is the equivalent of 2000 jobs created in the central belt. In Kintyre, we have a lot of outpost villages which are quite self-sufficient, but we've got them communicating now with other villages," she says. "Aside from encouraging enterprise, the social capital is substantial."

One of the differences between the concept and the work of other enterprise agencies is that it doesn't gravitate towards big businesses. It is geared towards individuals of any size because it is not justified through income generation targets.

"It's totally client-focused,"

says Sandy McCurdy, enterprise facilitator for the Dundee project. "If someone just wants to earn an extra £30 or have half an idea, I will help them. It is about their passion and making it happen. It is not about judging their idea."

Statistics suggest Sirolli's principle of community empowerment is working. As the credit crunch batters Scotland like a winter storm, Sirolli's success suggests that perhaps there is still a climate for enterprise, winging its way from warmer Italian climes. The Italian Jobs Guru Dr Ernesto Sirolli is an Italian who has worked in Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US in the field of economic development. The Sirolli Method is rooted in the belief that "the future of every community lies in capturing the passion, imagination and resources of its people". It has been successful across the world, from Esperance, Western Australia, to Kansas, where Sirolli projects are generating 10 to 15 start-ups a year, each employing 40-60 staff. Sirolli's tenets stem from an experience standing on the edge of an African river. His team taught Africans to grow fat Italian tomatoes. The fruits were red and delicious and the hippos ate every one. "We would bestow our superior intelligence and knowledge and, of course, we knew nothing about local conditions," he wrote in his book, Ripples from the Zambezi. "I became disillusioned with that whole approach." Instead, Sirolli devised a system under which enterprise facilitators encourage new businesses and initiatives, linking local groups for their mutual benefit. For more info on these projects visit www.opportunitykintyre.org.uk (Kintyre), www.growbiz.co.uk (Eastern Perthshire) or www.dundeesirolliproject.co.uk (Dundee).