Almost £850,000 of new funding has been secured to aid the economic recovery of businesses around the Humber.
The Humber LEP’s Business Growth Hub has been allocated the cash as part of the organisation’s updated coronavirus recovery plan, as it prioritises existing resources to work with partners to help businesses and people through the next phase.
Split across three new support services, the funding will help businesses in the Humber to plan and implement their strategies to revive their operations and then to thrive in the longer term, with grant support extended.
It will further the growth hub’s existing business support offer, which has assisted more than 11,000 businesses since the start of the pandemic, awarded £490,000 of grant funding to support homeworking hardware and software, and has run 66 webinars with more than 1,500 attendees across all sessions.
Four start-up business advisors are to be recruited to help pre-start entrepreneurs to make their business idea a reality, while also guiding new business start-ups to survive their first year of trading.
At the other end of the scale, consultants to support medium and large businesses will also be deployed to help some of the biggest employers to recover from the pandemic and to also help prepare for the end of the EU transition period. Furthermore, a workforce development business advisor will be appointed to provide bespoke support to owners and managers looking to recruit, retain and develop staff, as well as assisting with apprenticeship and trainee recruitment.
Stephen Parnaby OBE, chair of the Humber LEP, said: “The Humber Business Growth Hub is extremely pleased to receive this new funding, which will help us to reach even more entrepreneurs and business than ever before.
“While in the early stages of the economic impact of Covid-19 we had to act quickly to support businesses in the short term, this funding will provide measures to back businesses in the long term, helping them to plan for the future and implement strategies and new ways of working that will ensure their future success.
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“Not only can we now support start-up businesses, who are still keen to make their business dreams a reality, we’re also pleased to be able to support some of the region’s biggest employers as they navigate Brexit.”
More than £500,000 of European Regional Development Fund cash will help deliver both SME Restart and Recovery grants and also Kickstarting Tourism Grants. Offering grants of between £1,000 to £3,000 on a 100 per cent funded basis, the Growth Hub’s #GrowMySME Programme will oversee the administration of the grants, which are available to businesses that need to work with a consultant, advisor or specialist on a particular project to aid the business recovery from the pandemic. Applications for these grants are expected to open on September 7.
Peer Networks, a national initiative powered by the Humber Business Growth Hub, will also bring business owners and managers together, with the scheme running from October to March.
Businesses are encouraged to sign up to the Growth Hub’s mailing list at to be kept abreast of the new business support products and to be notified when the new services and grant schemes go live.