Types of Businesses at Ashford, Bramwell, and Coledene - Essay Example

Table of contents 0 Introduction 2 2.0 Data Collection 2 3.0 Data Analysis 2 4.0 In Summary 5 5.0 Conclusion 5 6.0 References 6 7.0 Appendix 6 ListOf Tables 1.0 Introduction This study was commissioned by Stapleton Borough council in order to review businesses within the three (3) towns of namely; Ashford, Bramwell and Coledene and a number of smaller villages. Mainly, the council wanted to know the following; The different types of local businesses which exist within the council; The size of the existing local businesses; the physical area of the premises and the number of staff employed; Whether these local businesses are owned by local people or if Stapleton attracts people from outside the area to set up small businesses; Constraints to business growth within the council. 2.0 Data Collection Data for the study was collected using a questionnaire. Questionnaires are mainly used in data collection due to their ability to capture more information than any other research tool. According to McClelland, S.B (1994), open ended questions in questionnaire design enables the researcher to get a greater picture of the respondent. However, Dobson, S. & Palfreman, S. (1999) argues that even with open ended questions and there is no un-biasness in the selecting of the representatives, the data will not be complete. Other methods of data collection exist e.g. interviews and observations. To Doyle, E (2005), the two cannot be used in this case since some of the information required cannot be captured through observations and interview since it may not yield much. About 320 questionnaires were mailed to both local small and medium businesses. Only 100 managed to fill and send them back. The questionnaires had 8 questions. The council wanted to know the area of business one was involved in; where the business is based; the number of employees; whether the business is freehold or under leasehold; the size of the business premises; reasons for initially for locating the business in Stapleton Borough; constraints to business operations and whether there are plans of relocating to another place in the next 5. 3.0 Data Analysis The data collected from the questionnaires was entered into a computer and analysed below are the results. Table 1: Type of Business One if Involved in. Frequency Percent Valid Agriculture 22 22.0 Manufacturing 22 22.0 Storage 16 16.0 Construction 13 13.0 High Tech 1 1.0 Retails 10 10.0 Other services 10 10.0 Other Please specify 6 6.0 Total 100 100.0 From table 1 above, it is evident that, both agriculture and manufacturing based business are the majority representing 44% of the businesses. High Tech is not well developed in the region. Table 2: Where is the Business Located? Frequency Percent Valid Ashford 26 26.0 Bramwell 17 17.0 Coledene 14 14.0 Local village/ rural area 43 43.0 Total 100 100.0 Most of the businesses which took part in this study were located in the local villages (43%). In the towns, Ashford had the highest number of businesses; 26%, Bramwell had 17% while Coledene had 14%. Table 3: Lease Frequency Percent Valid Freehold 49 49.0 Leasehold 51 51.0 Total 100 100.0 51% of the businesses surveyed are located in leaseholds while the remaining 49% is located in freeholds. Table 4: Size Frequency Percent Valid 0 to 99 sq m 19 19.0 100 to 249 sq m 25 25.0 250 to 499 sq m 18 18.0 500 to 749 sq m 13 13.0 750 to 999 sq m 11 11.0 1000 to 1999 sq m 10 10.0 2000 or more sq m 4 4.0 Total 100 100.0 Majority of the businesses are located in an area of 100-249 square metres. Very few businesses; 4%, are located in an area of about 2000 or more. Table 5: Reasons for Setting up in Stapleton Frequency Percent Valid Business opportunity 7 7.0 Cost of premises 9 9.0 Premises available 25 25.0 Suitable workforce 3 3.0 Client/customer base 13 13.0 Born / live locally 33 33.0 Access to road /rail etc 2 2.0 Other 8 8.0 Total 100 100.0 Most of those who have businesses in Stapleton have set them there since they live locally or where born there. Availability of premises is another reason for setting up businesses in the council. Customer base, cost of premises and business opportunities are the other reasons why businesses have been set up within the council. Table 6: Constraints to Business Growth Frequency Percent Valid Availability of new premises 12 12.0 Availability of land 6 6.0 Skilled labour force 17 17.0 parking 18 18.0 no constraints 40 40.0 other constraints 7 7.0 Total 100 100.0 Most of those who took part in the study alluded to the fact that there are no constraints to business growth. However, 18% agree to the problem of parking slots within the council while 17% said that the council has no enough skilled manpower. Other constraints though not statistically significant include un-availability of new premises and land. Table 7: Any Plans of Relocating Frequency Percent Valid Yes, within Stapleton 18 18.0 Yes, outside Stapleton 3 3.0 No 54 54.0 Don’t Know 25 25.0 Total 100 100.0 As at know, 54% of those who own businesses in the area have no plans of relocating to any other town or local village. However, some 18% have plans of relocating although within the council while 25% say they don’t know whether they will be making any move. A meagre 3% say they will be moving out of Stapleton. 4.0 In Summary From the above analyzed data, it is evident that many business opportunities do exist in Stapleton. Opportunities exist in Agriculture mainly in the rural areas, in manufacturing, constructions, storage, retails services and other services. The field of High Tech (IT) is not well established although there is potential. 5.0 Conclusion According to Dawson, G. et al. (2006), businesses do well in an environment where there is conducive atmosphere for them prevail. For businesses to do well in Stapleton, the following needs to be done; Land need to be made available; The cost of premises needs to checked; Capacity building to ensure skilled labour needs to be cascaded; The council should make available parking slots to encourage business men to invest and also to hold the existing ones; 6.0 References Dawson, G. et al. (2006). Economics and Economic Change. London: FT Prentice Hall. ISBN10: 0273693514 Dobson, S. & Palfreman, S. (1999). Introduction to Statistics. London: Oxford University Press Doyle, E (2005). The Economics System. London: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. ISBN10: 0470850019 Gay, A (2006). Introduction to Statistics and its Applications. Nairobi: General Printers McClelland, S.B (1994). Training Needs Assessment Data-gathering Methods: Part 4, On-site Observations. Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 4-7 Richmond, H (2006). Statistics of Today: How it is shaping the world. Ohio: Akron University Press 7.0 Appendix BUSINES Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Agricilture 22 22.0 22.0 22.0 Manufacturing 22 22.0 22.0 44.0 Storage 16 16.0 16.0 60.0 Construction 13 13.0 13.0 73.0 High Tech 1 1.0 1.0 74.0 Retails 10 10.0 10.0 84.0 Other services 10 10.0 10.0 94.0 Other Please specify 6 6.0 6.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 WHERE Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Ashford 26 26.0 26.0 26.0 Bramwell 17 17.0 17.0 43.0 Coledene 14 14.0 14.0 57.0 Local village/ rural area 43 43.0 43.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 LEASE Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Freehold 49 49.0 49.0 49.0 Leasehold 51 51.0 51.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 SIZE_ Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 0 to 99 sq m 19 19.0 19.0 19.0 100 to 249 sq m 25 25.0 25.0 44.0 250 to 499 sq m 18 18.0 18.0 62.0 500 to 749 sq m 13 13.0 13.0 75.0 750 to 999 sq m 11 11.0 11.0 86.0 1000 to 1999 sq m 10 10.0 10.0 96.0 2000 or more sq m 4 4.0 4.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 LOCATED_ Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Business opportunity 7 7.0 7.0 7.0 Cost of premises 9 9.0 9.0 16.0 Premises available 25 25.0 25.0 41.0 Suitable workforce 3 3.0 3.0 44.0 Client/customer base 13 13.0 13.0 57.0 Born / live locally 33 33.0 33.0 90.0 Access to road /rail etc 2 2.0 2.0 92.0 Other 8 8.0 8.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 CONSTRA_ Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Availability of new premises 12 12.0 12.0 12.0 Availability of land 6 6.0 6.0 18.0 Skilled labour force 17 17.0 17.0 35.0 parking 18 18.0 18.0 53.0 no constraints 40 40.0 40.0 93.0 other constraints 7 7.0 7.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 RELOCA Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes, within Stapleton 18 18.0 18.0 18.0 Yes, outside Stapleton 3 3.0 3.0 21.0 No 54 54.0 54.0 75.0 Don’t Know 25 25.0 25.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 Read More