 Traditional industries such as coal mining, steel, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were all in decline.This period of economic transition impacted significantly on communities across Scotland and in response, enterprise trusts were established as locally led initiatives to support the regeneration of these communities through focusing on small businesses.Trusts have as their core activity the goal of encouraging and supporting entrepreneurial activity, helping to create successful new businesses and supporting the development and growth of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generally employing up to 25 people.