Small business growth: new support on offer
Small businesses awarded Innovate UK funding will now be connected to business support to help them to grow faster.
Business growth coach Tim Iles with Bindatex founder Chris Lever
Most small businesses awarded Innovate UK funding from January 2015 will automatically receive business support to help them grow faster.
The new growth support offers small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) the chance to:
- participate in a growth workshop
- complete an online diagnostic of their business
- discuss their business needs with a growth expert to develop a growth plan
Based on the results, SMEs will gain opportunities to get:
- coaching
- mentoring
- entrepreneurial skills training
This will cover areas such as:
- developing a business model
- sales
- strategic marketing
- access to finance
- leadership
- change management
Innovate UK will meet the costs of this SME growth support. It will be provided by different organisations depending on where the SME is based:
- in England the Business Growth Service
- in Scotland Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- in Wales the Welsh Government
- in Northern Ireland Invest Northern Ireland
Increase in turnover
This growth support is being offered after a successful pilot project showed that businesses that combined our funding with additional business support were able to grow their businesses more quickly.
SMEs that combined funding from us with business coaching:
- saw an average 26% increase in turnover
- created an average 4.6 new jobs
Mentoring and training in business skills also helped businesses to gain confidence and to make the most of their potential.
Success for Bindatex
One of the companies that took part in the pilot was Bolton-based Bindatex. Bindatex is an innovative small business that is set to more than treble its turnover after receiving funding support from Innovate UK and business coaching.
Founder Chris Lever said:
It helped to take me out of the day-to-day production and think more strategically about how I was going to continue moving the business forward.
I now have a clearer picture of where I want the business to go.
The Business Growth Service is now closed to new customers. Contractual commitments to existing customers will be honoured, as long as all support and related activity is completed by 31 March 2016. If you’re looking to find what business support is available in your area, your local Growth Hub may be able to help.
Last updated 5 January 2015 + show all updates
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Added details of what organisations will be delivering the support
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First published.