About

Southern Enterprise Alliance (SEA) is a private, not-for-profit company.

SEA is the holding company of a small group with a mission to develop the local economy by providing services and support to businesses and collaborating with partners to deliver enterprise and economic development projects.

Vision

To be an innovation catalyst energising and enabling customers to realise their success and promoting progressive economic growth and prosperity.

The Company

SEA is a membership company limited by guarantee that does not pay any dividends, but invests any surpluses it generates back into its principal activity of supporting small and medium sized businesses through its operating companies. It currently has a turnover of £10.0 million.

SEA has two core subsidiaries; WSX Enterprise Limited (www.wsxenterprise.co.uk) and PLATO GB Limited (www.platogb.co.uk).

The companies that make up SEA have over 50 employees with the majority employed in customer facing roles of Business Link, design advisory support for SMEs, the PLATO and Mentor-net programmes.

The Board of SEA has 9 non-executive directors elected from and by the membership of SEA.

The Membership

50% of the members are drawn from key representatives of organisations that are active in supporting the local economy or in providing business support. 50% are private business people.

History

SEA was formed in 2001 to take on the management of the Business Link service across Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (formerly Business Link Wessex). Since then it has managed and developed a wide range of support services for businesses across the South of England.

Over the past nine years SEA has designed and successfully delivered a range of contracts and services, each operated under its own separate brand to reflect the different services.