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The first Competitiveness White Paper published in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1994, acknowledged the relationship between economic effectiveness and workforce education. Further education (FE) colleges were expected to play a major role in the development of a skilled workforce and the economic development of the UK. The Competitiveness Fund was a central component of a new strategy to promote stronger collaboration between FE colleges and Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) in developing local and regional economies. The Fund provided resources which FE colleges could bid for and use to develop training opportunities for skill development in support of local or regional economies. This bulletin reports on the key findings of a Further Education Development Agency (FEDA) study of how a sample of FE colleges used the first round of Competitiveness Funding and how the funding affected the development of collaboration between FE colleges, TECs, industry and government agencies.