We can help your business to prosper and grow

Transcription

1 We can help your business to prosper and grow

2 This page Top left Image: Roslyn Works Enterprise Centre, Longton Centre image: New business opening Starting a business? Stoke-on-Trent City Council wants to make our city a great place to do business. We are working collaboratively with our partners to offer a wide range of support that will enable your business idea get off the ground. Start-Up Loans Start-Up Loans is a Governmentbacked initiative with over 100 million funding available to help young people kick-start their own enterprise. This programme, chaired by James Caan of the BBC s Dragon s Den, is delivered locally by Youth Enterprise. If you are aged 18 to 30, have always wanted to be your own boss and you have an idea that you can turn into a business, we can offer you a low interest business loan with the free support of a mentor to help you make a success of your enterprise. Typical loans will be around 4,500. However, the final amount will be determined by your business plan and there is no definite limit. Start-Up Loans are also accessible to new businesses still in their initial phase simon@ nationalenterprisechallenge. co.uk The Prince s Trust. The Enterprise Programme for year olds offers advice, training, mentoring with a possibility of start-up funding PRIME The Prince s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME), which offers support (including mentoring) for potential entrepreneurs aged 50 or over

3 Business Enterprise Coaching* If you are interested in starting your own business, the successful Enterprise Coaches programme delivered by Business Enterprise Support (BES) could be for you. The coaches have a wealth of experience to support and guide you into starting your own thriving enterprise. BES Had a great experience with our BES coach Gemma, she has been fantastic. She has given us all the support we need, answered all questions promptly and been generally very pleasant to work with. We would definitely recommend to anyone looking to start a business. Darren Halpin and Becky Heapy, Penguin. Media, Stoke-on-Trent This page Bottom left Image: Darren Halpin and Becky Heapy Penguin.Media Business Innovation Centre (BIC) The BIC in Staffordshire helps people to set up in business by providing advice and support on innovation and new product development. BIC can develop your skills to become more innovative through workshops and events; has access to funding for innovation and can provide small incubation office space for new businesses enquiries@thebic.co.uk Citywide Small Grants Subject to eligibility, Stokeon-Trent City Council can offer grants of up to 1,500 for people interested in starting their own business. Based upon a sound business plan, the grants can fund equipment and other crucial start-up costs. Economic Development Unit business.growth@stoke.gov.uk Enterprise Centres The city council manages a suite of enterprise centres for small businesses across the city. These are situated in: Longton; Shelton; Burslem and Chatterley Whitfield. The centres offer communal facilities and have shared resources (including meeting rooms). Stoke-on-Trent City Council

4 Opposite page: Main image: Pat Steele (2nd left) and Wendy Hall (2nd right) both International Trade Advisers with Jan Constantine and Kate Famer of Wade Ceramics, both local businesses, at the British Lifestyle Showcase in Toronto This page: Top left: Make it Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Inward Investment Service Commercial Property Event 2012 Middle and bottom right: Mentoring business Growing a business? Through the Mandate for Change, the city council and its partners are fully committed to providing a comprehensive range of support to help your business grow and prosper. Competitive Intelligence The city council s Economic Development Unit can offer company-specific competitive intelligence reports for the city s small and medium enterprises. These can provide crucial intelligence including: Trends in a specific area; Gaps in the market; Buyers and suppliers in the supply chain; The best place to find your customers. These reports are available free of charge to companies within the city. Economic Development Unit business.growth@stoke.gov.uk Mentoring* You can get help to find the right mentor to assist you to grow or overcome difficulties. Mentors are experienced business people who have successfully managed companies for years. The Mentoring Service, which is supported by the city council and delivered by North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NSCCI), is free of charge to your company. NSCCI Make It Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Inward Investment Service* The Inward Investment service provides a comprehensive support package for companies wishing to relocate or expand including: Identifying optimum locations, with suitable sites and premises; Provision of site visits and area tours; Advice on grants and incentives; Support in relation to skills, training, salary levels and recruitment costs; Help with industry and market research enquiries@ makeitstokestaffs.co.uk

5 Growth Accelerator Growth Accelerator is the premier service that helps ambitious businesses achieve rapid and sustainable growth. Targeted at businesses with high growth potential, the service provides expert one-to-one coaching and workshops along with the opportunity to access grant funding of up to 2,000 to support the development of leadership and management capabilities Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) MAS is the Government s flagship business improvement programme for manufacturers. It provides specialist strategic and technical advice to help improve the competitiveness of manufacturers UK Trade and Investment With professional advisers in over 100 international markets, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the government department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality investment to the UK. This could be helping companies to export for the first time or, assisting companies already exporting, to develop new markets. The Staffordshire UKTI Team comprises seven International Trade Advisers who work with businesses of all sizes across all sectors. The level of support is always bespoke to each company but can include advice on any aspect of international trade and providing financial support to develop overseas. Working closely with the UKTI Team is the Chamber s Export Documentation Team which provides a fast, efficient service and is always happy to advise companies on which documentation is required for any given country. UKTI JET Service The city council s JET (Jobs Enterprise Training) Service offers complete recruitment, training and consultancy expertise exclusively in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding North Staffordshire area. We can help local businesses find a trained workforce - usually at no cost to the business. For smaller businesses which do not have access to their own human resources service, we can even help with the recruitment process including advising on job descriptions. JET I would certainly recommend the JET scheme and it ll be the first place I go to when we need to recruit again. Bev Steele. NESN Business Innovation Centre (BIC) BIC can help companies to grow their business by providing advice and support on innovation and new product development. Through its events and workshops BIC provide people with the skills to become more innovative and have access to funding for innovation including its own 2500 consultancy fund. BIC enquiries@thebic.co.uk

6 This page: Top left: Transformation Garden, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013, Silver Medal award winning garden with ceramics developed by Staffordshire University and British Ceramics Biennial Ltd Bottom right Construction opportunites Factory Supporting Your Creative Business * The Factory programme has been developed in partnership with Staffordshire University and Burslem School of Art to specifically support and develop businesses operating in the creative sector. Creative small and medium enterprises throughout Stoke-on- Trent and North Staffordshire can access a wide range of business advice and guidance from specialists within this sector and benefit from a bespoke training programme. The programme also offers a one-to-one external business appraisal and the opportunity to access a small grant fund factory@stoke.gov.uk Destination Staffordshire Support for Tourism Business We can offer a great opportunity to help grow your business and increase profitability. Whether it is learning from other successful businesses; making social media work for you; increasing visitor spend; tackling long-standing issues or increasing your turnover, we can provide solutions. We have a select group of tourism experts and business coaches who will support you with masterclasses, workshops and one-toone consultancy advice tourism@winningmoves.com Make It Your Business - Supply Chain Opportunities* Make It Your Business is a focal point for business networking and supply chain opportunities in construction, manufacturing, ceramics, health and creative sectors. It provides competitive intelligence, business support events, workshops and networking opportunities that link local companies with each other to create a vibrant local supply chain. The programme, delivered by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in partnership with the NSCCI, is free to register by using our web based platform which provides a range of business information and alerts with contract opportunities miyourbusiness@stoke.gov.uk

7 This page: Top left: Moorcroft Heritage Visitor Centre Top right: Staffordshire University s Flux recognised as way forward for University and business collaboration by the Impact Awards 2013 Centre Etruria Valley, one of Stoke-on-Trent s key development sites Supplying the Council If you wish to supply the city council with goods and services, it is easier than ever. Please visit our purchasing website for more information: stoke.gov.uk/ corporate-procurement Stoke-on-Trent Business Loan Fund* The Loan Fund is there to help companies which have a sound business plan but are unable to raise finance through conventional means. In certain circumstances, it can also support new ventures. The fund, jointly provided by the city council and the European Regional Development Fund, and managed by the Black Country Reinvestment Society, provides financial support ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 to businesses based in Stoke-on-Trent. BCRS enquiries@bcrs.org.uk Staffordshire University Staffordshire University and its academics are not just experts in their field, they have proven track records in applying this expertise to meet business needs and solve problems. We can provide specialist knowledge, technical expertise or innovative thinking in whatever the field - science, computing, engineering and technology, marketing and business processes or arts and design. You can access our knowledge and expertise in a number of ways such as: Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP); Commercial Funding; Research; Innovation Vouchers; Professional Development; Keele University Keele University is wellpositioned to help businesses face the challenges they meet in an increasingly competitive global market. Our impressive track record, as a partner to the private and public sector and as a source of invention and innovation, has helped many companies improve their business success. We work with a range of regional and national organisations which choose Keele University for the quality and value of our collaborations. Research & Enterprise Services can help establish partnerships, manage commercial aspects of your business, promote enterprise activities and facilitate the wider use of intellectual property

8 For more information contact Economic Development Unit stoke.gov.uk/business EUROPEAN UNION Investing in Your Future European Regional Development Fund Issued July 2013 * Project part financed by the European Regional Development Fund