Millions of pounds of funding has been released to help businesses in Derby invest in innovation, growth and job creation as they come out of lockdown.
Derby City Council is launching a £5 million Ascend programme to help businesses fight back a year on from the start of the pandemic.
It includes investment in bespoke growth advice as well as a £3 million loan fund. As many as 50 businesses will be helped over the next two years.
READ MORE: {}
Derby County Football Club owner Mel Morris, who has been appointed as an Ascend ambassador, said the initiative was a positive move for the city:
He said: “Ascend delivers a unique combination of expertise and resources designed to support Derby businesses grow and realise their full potential.
“I’m delighted to support such a positive initiative, that proactively drives business success, creates new high-quality jobs and build a stronger, more diverse local economy.”
Derby City Council leader Coun Chris Poulter said he wanted to nurture a new “entrepreneurial eco-system” in Derby.
He said: “We want to make our city a fantastic place to establish and grow a business, to create high-quality and sustainable jobs while, at the same time, supporting and diversifying the local economy.
Most Read
“While it is vital that, as part of our recovery strategy, we work with external investors such as SmartParc and St James Securities, whose developments will generate thousands of new jobs in Derby, it is equally important that we assist existing businesses to exploit their potential and create further employment.
“We will bring in experts in leadership, business modelling, growth strategy, financial planning and technology development to nurture the ambitions of our brightest companies and help them achieve their potential.”
The Ascend team has appointed an expert panel – including senior officials from the council and university, business advisors, investors and entrepreneurs – to consider applications.
Businesses chosen will receive expert help with their growth strategies, as well as support if they need to prepare an investment case for equity investors or access loans for capital investment where traditional finance is not available.
The scheme will be open to businesses based within eight miles of the city centre who commit to creating jobs for Derby residents, graduates or students.
It will officially launch later in the spring but companies can already register their interest by e-mailing ascend@derby.gov.uk.
The programme is backed by the University of Derby and is being piloted by luxury doughnut maker Project D, which recently took on 100 staff at its new Derby premises and has just expanded deliveries to cover the whole of England and Wales.
Don’t miss
Project D director Max Poynton welcomed the scheme and said it would be a big help to companies like theirs, who had the potential to generate wealth and jobs.
He said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to pilot this scheme. In the last 12 months Project D has been able to evolve and expand at a significant pace and we are now delivering our doughnuts across England and Wales.
“We are still enormously ambitious and want to continue on this trajectory, so we will really benefit from receiving expert advice.
“This scheme will mean we can work with some specialist advisors, such as a production and supply chain specialist, to help us grow and scale the business in a sustainable way.
“We know that to be successful long-term we need to implement the correct strategies and procedures now, so that we develop a strong operational foundation for future growth.
“It’s very exciting and we hope that Project D will become a household name across the 海角视频, if not the world.”
David Williams, chairman of law firm Geldards and deputy chair of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, is on the Ascend selection panel.
He said: “As we look to move past the pandemic and to a brighter future, I am delighted to be involved in the Ascend initiative to ensure Derby and the wider region can build back stronger from Covid-19.
“It’s vitally important we support Derby businesses to recover and unlock their potential to secure investment and create sustainable growth for our local economy.”
Kamil Omoteso, Pro Vice-Chancellor Dean of the College of Business, Law and Social Sciences at the University of Derby, said: “We are very pleased to be involved in this initiative and to be able to provide support to local businesses.
“As a member of Derby’s Economic Recovery Task Force, we take seriously the responsibility we have as a university to work with our city as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is crucial that businesses have the opportunity to access support so that they can achieve their maximum potential and thrive, helping to drive forward the regeneration of our city.”
The Derby economic recovery strategy, of which Ascend is a part, has three core aims – to stimulate business and investor confidence in the city, diversify the local economy and enable decarbonisation.
Other major initiatives within the city’s economic recovery strategy include:
– Supporting the £300 million SmartParc food campus on the former Celanese site, near Spondon, which will create up to 5,000 jobs
– Developing a 3,500-capacity city centre performance venue as part of the £200 million redevelopment of the Becketwell area by Leeds-based St James Securities, in a scheme which will create more than 2,000 jobs
– Declaring the city’s ambition to be a centre for future-fuels technology and supporting a new £15 million Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at Infinity Park;
– Creating a Derby Market Place al fresco dining experience to support local hospitality businesses