The Business Gateway Growth Hub, working with the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) and Leicester City Council is inviting quotations for the delivery of a programme of business support for start-up businesses across Leicester and Leicestershire.
Locally based providers are invited to tender to facilitate a programme of business support activity to be delivered through the Business Gateway Growth Hub.
The ‘Business Accelerator’ support will help early-stage start-up businesses that have been trading for up to three years.
Due to the impact of Covid-19, it is anticipated that there will be a significant number of businesses that require support in Leicester and Leicestershire over the next 12 months. In 2020, the Business Gateway registered 3656 enquiries in relation to individuals seeking business support, an increase of 212% on the previous year.
Organisations that have strong connections with local business networks at a district level and deep knowledge of the local business and funding landscape are encouraged to bid.
The ability to identify SMEs and micro-businesses within Leicester and Leicestershire that have been impacted adversely by the pandemic is a must. The successful bidders will be expected to generate cohorts of local start-up businesses requiring business support.
The aim of these support programmes is to build resilience, help local businesses curate ambition and move towards future investment readiness.
Currently, levels of overall R&D expenditure remain constant in Leicester and Leicestershire at only 0.6 per cent, well below the UK average of R&D expenditure growth of 15.1 per cent. This lack of investment is leading to a significant proportion of the area’s businesses to underperform in terms of productivity.
The LLEP’s business tracker survey identified several key challenges facing business in 2021, these were economic uncertainty, cashflow problems, disruption due to Covid-19 and supply chain disruption due to Covid-19 and or BREXIT.
Sonia Baigent is Chair of the Business Gateway Board and a LLEP Director. She said:
“There are over 42,000 businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire located across rural and urban settings. Around 90% are micro businesses employing 9 or less people.
“We recognise the challenges they may face when it comes to the in-house expertise needed to run a small business, so it is imperative that help is easy to access.
“Any micro or small business, regardless of sector can access services from the Business Gateway free of charge. This particular support programme is being implemented to offer the early stage businesses a helping hand.
“No business should feel they are on their own. We have friendly and experienced business advisers ready to answer questions and provide advice. This programme will be a welcome addition to our extensive toolbox of business support offers.”
This tender opportunity is open until noon 3rd September 2021. Providers must be able to commence active delivery of the programme of support from 20th September 2021.
The Request for Quotation document can be downloaded via this link PAN2503 RFQ Start-up Business Support Programme.
It is recommended that you view the LCC Tender Consultancy Agreement before submitting your tender.
Please direct any queries to finance-llep@llep.org.uk
Please also view our frequently asked questions regarding the PAN2503 tender.
Update 06 August 2021: Please note that the threshold for this tender is £19,750 and not £19,000 as stated previously
