Businesses in the region are to receive a significant boost to their operations with a helping hand from East Midlands Chamber’s new generation of business support.
The chamber of commerce for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire has secured £8.9m of public funding until March 2025 to deliver its Accelerator project, which aims to provide one seamless point of entry for relevant business support.
It comprises key activities under the strands of net zero, innovation, digital and finance, with the aim of helping companies at all stages of their development to start, sustain, grow and innovate.
The East Midlands Chamber Accelerator project brings together a number of publicly-funded contracts including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), a key part of the Government’s levelling up agenda to enhance communities, businesses and skills; Innovate UK EDGE, which helps innovative SMEs to grow and achieve scale; and Made Smarter East Midlands, which assists manufacturers in switching to advanced and automated technologies.
Diane Beresford, deputy chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “The East Midlands Chamber Accelerator programme has been carefully designed to provide businesses across the district with the right support, at the right time.
“At the heart of the project is a team of locally-based advisers and specialists, employed by the Chamber, who will offer high-intensity support to businesses seeking to grow, create new jobs or exploit technology to improve performance.
“Working with an adviser or specialist will be a key ingredient for businesses interested in taking advantage of Accelerator support and a diagnostics report will show them where best to point their energies.”
