One of the world鈥檚 largest business groups has selected Newcastle for its first centre outside North America which aims to boost regional prosperity.
Intuit QuickBooks鈥 Prosperity Hub will aim to stimulate the North East economy by providing development training to SMEs, providing students with advice on entrepreneurship and help for businesses to become more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint.
The American software firm already has a customer service hub in Newcastle鈥檚 Stephenson Quarter, working with outsourcing group Concentrix.
They will use the centre for Intuit鈥檚 first Prosperity Hub in Europe, picking the city because the North East has the 海角视频鈥檚 highest unemployment rate and the lowest number of small and medium sized businesses.
It is hoped that the centre can replicate the success of similar hubs in the US and Canada, which studies have shown to have a 83% return on investment in terms of local economic growth.
Chris Evans, vice president and 海角视频 country manager for Intuit QuickBooks said: 鈥淲ith economic inequality rising globally, we launched our Prosperity Hubs programme in 2016.
鈥淭he mission was to generate economic prosperity for communities in need by creating new jobs, preparing people with skills of the future, and equipping entrepreneurs with the tools they need to start and build successful businesses. By July this year, the program had helped create 2,200 jobs in six US communities and one in Canada.
鈥淭his is an amazing achievement, but we鈥檙e passionate about doing much more and we鈥檙e aiming to boost this number to 7,000 by 2023. That is why I鈥檓 so excited to be extending this mission by launching the first Prosperity Hub in the 海角视频.
鈥淲e looked at where we could create the most impact and chose the North East of England as it has the highest unemployment rate in the 海角视频 and a really tough small business landscape. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to offer resources and training that can create new businesses and generate prosperity for people at a time when they need it most.鈥
The initiative has been welcomed by North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll and Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes.
Coun Forbes said: 鈥淯nemployment is rising due to the pandemic, and this is set to get worse as the Government brings the furlough scheme to an end.
鈥淚t is vitally important that Newcastle is open for business and attracting investment so we can create new employment opportunities. That鈥檚 why I welcome this vote of confidence in the city.
鈥淪mall businesses are the backbone of the 海角视频 economy and anything that encourages their growth has got to be good for Newcastle and good for the region.鈥
North East LEP chair Lucy Winskell has also welcomed the new hub, saying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see Intuit choosing the North East to launch its first prosperity hub initiative in the 海角视频, which support鈥檚 the North East LEP鈥檚 focus on raising aspirations across the region to improve our skills base and entrepreneurial mind-sets.鈥
Intuit, which is best known for its Quickbooks financial software, joins a number of financial organisations in setting up centres that aim to boost the North East economy.
NatWest has given room at its Newcastle base for the Entrepreneurial Spark programme while Barclays has joined forces with the TusPark business accelerator to extend its Eagle Labs programme into the city.
