We examine the challenges and developments relating to the support of ethnic minority businesses (EMBs). The challenges pertain to the distinctiveness of business support needs, the 'mainstreaming' of EMB support, and the dynamics of delivery. An 'engaged scholarship' approach is adopted, on the basis of an examination of business support providers in the West Midlands. We find considerable evidence of 'policy learning' in respect of these challenges. Hence, a nuanced approach to EMB support needs is in evidence, and 'good practice' principles are adhered to in respect of mainstreaming and EMB engagement. However, the new era of austerity imperils many of these gains.

A small but growing strand of literature is beginning to make the case for 'critical action learning' (CAL). Much of this interest operates on theoretical terrain, speculating on the extent to which it might differ from more conventional notions of action learning. This paper draws on insights from (CAL) to demonstrate the importance of being 'critical by design' in the formulation and implementation of interventions. It is based on a five-year inquiry involving a network of small business owners. We demonstrate the importance of explicitly questioning the rationale for interventions; assessing how the composition of the action learning set relates to power relations within its organizational context; the process of governance; and an active role for facilitators.

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Through the medium of a case study of Birmingham's ethnic minority-owned independent restaurant sector, the nature of training in the firms, the reasons for informal training, and employees' tolerance of harsh working conditions are examined. The reluctance of many small businesses to utilise formal programmes of training is confirmed. However, even in this sector, which is characterised by poor personnel practices, the importance of informal approaches to training and learning is noteworthy. Moreover, from the perspective of workers, employment in the ethnic minority business sector can be seen as a form of training in itself; it can constitute an "apprenticeship" for entrepreneurship rather than permanent entrapment in low-paid work. However, the capacity to realise this goal is contingent upon the availability of class resources. Further research is needed to explore approaches to training in other sectors that ethnic minorities are engaged in.

This paper examines the role that supplier diversity initiatives can play in opening up market opportunities for ethnic minority businesses (EMBs). EMBs have long been encouraged to diversify from inauspicious 'low value' niches; for some, the prospect of contracts with public and private sector organisations could serve as a means of facilitating this process. The advent of the Race Relations Amendment Act provides a legislative stimulus for diversity in public sector procurement. The 'corporate social responsibility' agenda, ostensibly embraced by many leading firms, provides a further impetus to re-assess diversity issues in respect of procurement. Case studies of two types of supplier diversity initiatives are drawn upon to inform this assessment: purchaser initiatives, from both the public and private sector; and intermediary or business-to-business brokerage type initiatives that attempt to facilitate the access of EMBs to potential contract opportunities. It is clear that such initiatives are at an early stage of development, and have to operate within legislative and political constraints. Nonetheless, there is still scope for the development of progressive measures; this is explored in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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