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This winter is packed with events and support to help your business grow, read on!
The Business Support landscape in Nottingham is changing – here are the key facts and timing for you to know, along with what happens next.
European Union funding (specifically European Regional Development Fund – ERDF) has been a key funder of many business support programmes in Nottingham and the wider D2N2 region. This funding ends June 2023 – 7 years after the Brexit vote! There is still funding for European Social Fund projects (which are typically focused on employment and skills support) but this runs out in December 2023 – so has just 6 months more to run. This includes key employment support projects such as the Skills Access Hub, which helps businesses train key staff.
The government have provided individual councils such as Nottingham with new funding – Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF), and Nottingham City Council is in the process of agreeing 2 years funding for projects. The funding is less than from EU funding, and the allocation is by local authority rather than regionally. The current D2N2 Growth Hub is a project that spans from High Peak in Derbyshire, through Swadlincote in south Derbyshire, across to Mansfield and Ashfield and Worksop in north Nottinghamshire to Nottingham City.
It is also important to state that the future is still uncertain, as projects get agreement, as projects come to an end, and as new projects and support starts.
What will keep going?
Firstly, some key business support projects don’t change such as the Midlands Engine Investment Fund from the British Business Bank, the Made Support programme for the manufacturing sector, and support from government departments such as the Department of International Trade and others which will continue. The East Midlands Chamber and Federation of Small Businesses will continue to provide support to their members. Support will continue to be available from the many private providers – banks, accountants, solicitors – that also offer independent advice to many businesses, and the Universities are a great source of information and support for businesses as well. Many office providers also offer business support as part of their rental, including We Are Pioneer (previously Bio City) and Dryden Enterprise Centre at NTU.
While work is still in progress on what keeps going, some open calls and local delivery are included in the current UKSPF plan.
Nottingham Growth Hub front line advisors who provide face-to-face support for businesses, covering sectors such as low carbon, life sciences, creative and digital, and specific support for BAME led businesses will also continue to receive funding from UKSPF to provide a level of business support, but with reduced overall support. We prioritised this service, as we believed it was important to offer a base level of generic business support that could help our growing businesses. The core of your current Nottingham Growth Hub team will be there to support your growth, rebranded as Supporting Local Businesses.
Additionally, several projects have been funded in Nottingham City to support business growth in key areas, judged important for the city’s economy:
- Start-ups will receive support from NBV – similar to how that is provided today to encourage a flourishing entrepreneurial new start up support starting from April 2023
- Medilink will continue to provide important sector support for our world beating Life Science sector from April 2023
- University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University will continue to receive funding from UKSPF from Nottingham City, supporting innovation in important areas such as low carbon, creative & digital, and high value manufacturing. University of Nottingham from July 2023 and NTU from April 2024
- Inward Investment will be supported to bring new operators into the city, and to grow our local economy.
What will stop?
A key difference will be reduced overall funding, but also less of an ability to have regional support, and so some grant schemes will stop. As this is a particularly uncertain area, we will update as we go along:
- The D2N2 Growth Hub central function is uncertain, but is likely to offer a reduced central service, which will mean reduced or stopped activity in areas such as workshops, telephone lines, marketing, finance support, the Business Investment Fund grant scheme.
- The Big House Creative and Digital project comes to an end, and is not being replaced with the same consortium (but there will be some limited support for Creative and Digital sector from NTU in 2024)
- Accelerating Reduction in Carbon grant scheme will end. The scheme is still open now for applications, but the last payments will be made in June 2023.
However, there are also some areas where there will be additional funding from UKSPF:
- Multiply – this project (detailed in the newsletter below) is supporting basic numeracy training for adults – which will improve people’s chances of getting higher skilled jobs.
- Grants for retail support – this is actually a scheme that has already delivered support to over 50 Nottingham retail businesses with shop front improvements, marketing and energy efficiency schemes. The scheme is now fully allocated but watch this space for further grant schemes.
Overall, things are still continuing to change. We will try to keep you informed as we learn more about what these changes are and as things become clearer, sharing it with you via newsletters, social media, and events where appropriate.
Futures to deliver Multiply initiative in Nottingham
Multiply is a new government initiative created to help individuals understand and use maths in their daily life, home and work. It offers free, easy access to numeracy courses that are designed to improve basic maths skills and increase confidence with numbers, up to and including a Level 2 or equivalent qualification.
Courses are set to be delivered through employers in Nottingham and can be made bespoke to each business. Duration, location, and even the course content can be customised to the needs of the employer.
Whether employees are looking for support with improving their skills in order to succeed at work or increasing their ability to manage their bills and income, accessing a Multiply course is a great first step.
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During a time where cost of living is increasing, improved maths skills can have a significant positive impact. Multiply will be able to support those who feel as though learning and qualifications are out of their reach, and support employers to improve the skills development of their workforce.
For further information on Multiply visit our website, or you can contact:
[email protected]
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Feast 2
Time is running out to apply for grant funding from the FEAST2 project, run by The Food & Drink Forum.
It’s available to eligible Food and Drink Manufacturing businesses looking to buy production equipment to help increase growth, productivity and create jobs.
Find out more about the project here.
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NBV last call for grants
NBV’s business programmes supports the start-up and growth or development of existing micro, small and medium-sized businesses through advice, training and grant funding.
Grants of between £1000 and £2500 are still available, so if you can say YES to these:
- Ready to start trading / Currently trading
- You sell business to business or business to consumer (service only NOT retail)
- Your business is based in Nottingham City, Broxtowe and parts of Gedling, Rushcliffe and Ashfield
- You’re a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME)
NBV could say YES to you!
To apply, start by completing an expression of interest and submit this to NBV. Basic eligibility checks will be carried out and, if successful at this stage, you will be asked to complete a full application.
Find out more and apply here
Sign up now for the Next Course Starting on March 20th 2023.
A 12-week management course benefitting from being 90% government funded.
Aimed at Business owners and senior leaders of SMEs with 5 or more employees, you can take part around your existing work commitments, and access learning through a blend of online and face to face sessions. It includes 50 hours of in-depth training, one to one business mentoring, and the opportunity to grow your business, fast.
The course covers strategies for growth and innovation, leading high-performance teams and digital adoption, as well as financial management and responsible business practices. You will hear from inspirational business leaders and learn alongside local peers, with access to a national alumni network.
By the end of the programme you will have developed and implemented a tailored business growth plan to increase productivity and grow your revenue and help take your business to the next level.
The course has been developed by the Small Business Charter in partnership with world-class business schools who have come together to develop a practical management programme for senior leaders in business
For more information, please visit: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/executive-education/help-to-grow.aspx
Cargo bikes help to reduce congestion and cut CO₂ emissions for a healthier city - oh and they're super cheap for your business to run and maintain, unlike vehicles!
We’ve got eCargo bikes available to trial for 30-90 days for businesses, voluntary and public sector organisations! Interested?
We’ve a training session coming up on 10 February, so get in touch now by emailing [email protected]
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This supports aims to help manufacturing SMEs to adopt and integrate Industry 4.0 technologies and design principles more effectively.
Manufacturers can benefit from:
- 12 hours of fully-funded expert consultancy to prepare your business for Industry 4.0. Ensuring that you adopt the technologies which can make the biggest impact to your productivity and support your implementation planning so you can boost productivity.
- Access to a £300,000 capital grants fund (40/60 match funding required). Each eligible business can apply for capital grants from £2,000 – £20,000, supporting capital project costs of £5,000 to £50,000.
This programme is ERDF funded, being delivered by the Smart Manufacturing Alliance in partnership with Opportunity Peterborough and is free to access for any SME manufacturer in England.
More details can be found at https://www.sma-uk.co.uk/acmi-4-0/
Projects must be completed by June 2023.
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