Growth Hub helpline is first call for Staffordshire businesses
January 16, 2018
Loans, grant applications and training are the top three enquiries heard by The Growth Hub’s Business Helpline.
Growth Hub advisors handle about 20 calls per day and refer businesses to around 80 partners across Staffordshire.
As part of the Growth Hub service, officers from the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce provide face-to-face advice to local businesses and act as a free ‘broker’ for business support.
Becky Parker, business advisor, said: “The main things people ask about are to do with finance, such as applying for grant funding or loans. They also want to know about training opportunities and start-up advice.
“Most of our enquiries come from the manufacturing sector, IT and communications and retail businesses. But we help any business, regardless of size, sector, where they are in their business journey or reason for contacting.
“We arrange a meeting to perform a free business diagnostic, so we can direct people to the right organisations and services. This could include: the Chamber of Commerce for mentoring; Serco for skills and training; LearnDirect for redundancy; ACAS for employment law; the Department for International Trade for exporting or the Intellectual Property Office for trademarks and copyright.”
The Growth Hub was established by the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to drive strong, sustainable business growth across the LEP area.
If your business is ready to take the next step, call the Growth Hub’s Business Helpline on 0300 111 8002 or visit stokestaffsgrowthhub.co.uk to use the free live chat service.
