The recovery of Leicestershire businesses affected by COVID continued this week with the number of SMEs receiving support hitting the 100 mark. 100 local businesses have signed up for the Start Up Business Support or SUBS programme, aimed at businesses that started in or after 2018 and were then interrupted by the pandemic.
The support takes a number of different forms, depending on what each business needs. The digital marketing expertise SMARTUP programme is provided by So Very Creative; Incrementa is providing six weeks of mentoring, weekly workshops and 1-2-1 support; the Accelerator programme from Leicester Start-Ups CIC is six weeks of workshops, round tables and mentoring. They have also provided weekend workshops for businesses that are unavailable during the working week. Finally, NBV is delivering the three-week programme ‘Gearing for Growth’.
Each provider aims to build the confidence of the new businesses as well as provide essential skills to make sure they can grow and overcome any barriers that may arise in future.
There are still a further 90 places available for any Leicestershire business that launched in or after 2018 and whose trading was interrupted by COVID.
Sonia Baigent, Chair of the Business Gateway Board, commented: “COVID affected us all in different ways and it hit these businesses at a crucial time in their development. We’re happy to support them to make up for lost time and start growing. We would encourage any Leicestershire business in a similar situation, to get in touch to receive the support that’s available to them.”
Any business interested in discussing the SUBS programme should call the Business Gateway on 0116 366 8487 and ask to speak to a Business Adviser.
