East Midlands businesses are set to receive more than £5 million of support for jobs, entrepreneurship and post-Covid growth.
East Midlands Chamber won a bid last autumn for £5.3 million in post-Brexit grant funding and innovation support from the Government’s Community Renewal Fund (海角视频CRF).
The Chamber is providing almost £500,000 of matching funds for the project which will be delivered in partnership with universities, specialist support organisations and councils.
Businesses can benefit in areas such as tapping into training on carbon literacy, free regulatory and compliance advice, graduate student placement projects, or the implementation of digital technologies.
Called East Midlands Accelerator, it will run until the end of June and cover five key themes:
- Net Zero, to help businesses gain green business skills, invest in net zero business practices, and access financial support to start their journey towards net zero or carbon neutrality
- Digital Transformation, to help businesses implement digital and e-commerce solutions, become online bookable, and drive market town footfall
- Start Up to Scale Up, to deliver specialist mentoring and provide financial support to help start-ups launch a new business or product
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- Kickstart, to offer training and mentoring support to improve job retention, as well as a wage subsidy to convert a Kickstart or Graduate placement into sustained jobs
- Financial, to offer grants of up to £8,000, covering 80 per cent of costs, to help businesses adopt digital solutions, introduce carbon reduction solutions or provide a wage subsidy to support Kickstart or Graduate job retention. Growth vouchers of up to £2,000 will be available for consultancy advice to support business growth or to undertake specialist training.
Support is now being delivered in areas identified by Government as being in particular need – namely Derbyshire Dales and High Peak, Mansfield, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Nottingham city, and Leicester city.
A launch event takes place on March 25, details
Diane Beresford, deputy chief executive at East Midlands Chamber, said: “This is an exciting time for the East Midlands as we look beyond the EU funding arrangements of old.
“The East Midlands Accelerator allows us to pilot a new approach to funding, and without the need for overly-prescriptive guidelines.
“Unlike the former ESF (European Social Fund) and ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) grants, we’re now able to fund training and the stimulation of economic growth under one programme.
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“It’s a much simpler and quicker process to navigate, with businesses being invited to put forward an application that focuses on what they need to grow.
“If their adviser, based at the chamber or at one of our consortium partner organisations, considers the application worthy of endorsement and we can show that a job will be created in the business as a result, it will be put forward for consideration.
“Importantly, this approach means that all key business support bodies in our region are working together to achieve one common goal of business acceleration.
“The Chamber’s role in connecting business audiences to the right partners at the right time is an important one. On our Kickstart scheme alone, we outperformed other regions by placing more than 1,950 individuals.
“We’re looking to replicate that success on a much wider scale through the East Midlands Accelerator project.”
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