ECP Growth Hub Business Partnership
Reengage your business, employees, and clients; providing support to restructure your business and help improve business efficiencies, processes, and technology.
Business support available to you
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CATAX
Catax are experts in specialist areas of tax relief, including Capital Allowances, Research & Development (R&D), Remediation of Contaminated Land and the Patent Box. With over 12 years experience, they have identified over a quarter of a billion pounds in tax benefit for their clients to date. Average client benefit is £52k for Capital Allowances and £62k for R&D and the Patent Box!
Female Ventures Fund
The Female Ventures Fund is an (S)EIS evergreen Fund.
What are we here to achieve
To focus on capital growth in the long term and to ensure that portfolio companies deliver growth in revenue, profit and value.
To reduce the risks through a diversified portfolio of carefully selected early-stage businesses and provision of development capital after the early stages.
How we impact others
Investees — to assist growth in medium to long term by providing expert advice alongside new equity.
Investors — to maximise returns by achieving significant capital gains across the portfolio.
Third parties — to make a positive, measurable social and environmental impact.
Small Business Commissioner
The Small Business Commissioner (SBC) is an independent public body set up by Government under the Enterprise Act 2016 to tackle late payment and unfavourable payment practices in the private sector. The SBC covers the whole of the UK – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The late payment culture that exists between businesses in the UK means that:
- a third of payments to small businesses are late
- the average value of each payment is £6,142
- 20% of small businesses have run in to cash flow problems due to late payments
- if small businesses were paid on time, this could boost the economy by an estimated £2.5 billion annually
Launched in December 2017 the Small Business Commissioner, leads an independent office aimed at empowering small businesses in resolving disputes around late and unfair payment issues and provides advice, including on how to take action if a payment is overdue.
The Commissioner urges small businesses affected by late or unfair payment practices to use the SBC’s complaint investigation service and promises to take action to tackle the worst examples of supply chain bullying.
Visit Britain / Visit England
Business Support Hub – Travel and Tourism
Topics currently covered on the Hub are:
- Start your business
The key target markets in your destination, guidance on the practicalities of setting up a new business and where to get help from mentors.
- Find funding
Funding options for your business and guidance on managing finances more effectively to maximise your profit margins.
- Know your legal obligations
On what grounds you can refuse a booking, what licences you need to provide TVs and how to comply with health & safety regulations. You can also buy a printed copy of the popular Pink Book: legislation for tourist accommodation.
- Understand health and safety
Your legal responsibilities, how to run a safe business and create a Fire Risk Assessment using a free online tool.
- Make your business accessible
Guidance, tools and resources to help you provide access for all – and gain a share of a £12 billion market. You can also create an Accessibility Guide for your businesses using a free online tool.
- Make your business sustainable
How to save money, reduce your impact and win more customers with practical sustainability tips and case studies.
- Employ and manage staff
Step-by-step guides to finding and employing staff, guidance on managing employees and information on apprenticeships.
- Find training
Training courses for you and your staff on customer service, digital skills and inclusion.
- Get quality assessed
How to get an official star rating or accreditation for your business from the national tourist board.
- Enter the Awards for Excellence
How to apply for one of the highest accolades in English tourism – the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
- Market your business
VisitEngland/VisitBritain marketing opportunities, our Digital Marketing Toolkit and best practice communication guides.
- Attract international visitors
Guidance to help your business get ‘international ready’, including extensive research on overseas markets and our Inbound Tourism Toolkit.
- Find local support
An online tool that tells you who your local Destination Organisation (local tourist board) an Growth Hubs are.
Productivity Finance
An independent, whole of market, broker, offering expert advice on funding for all businesses.
With a whole of market lender panel they can arrange business funding from High Street Banks, Challenger Banks as well as niche providers and specialist products not normally available through the high street. This allows us to provide finance for all types of business from start-up, acquisition (MBO/MBI), property companies including development finance and existing SME’s. Our lenders will only lend to UK based trading companies.
Seeking expert financial advice provided by professionals to help your business grow? Call Graham Threlfall 07841 428284. I have over 150 solutions at my fingertips to help fund your business plans. graham.threlfall@productivityfinance.co.uk for all your business requirements.
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
As experts in business, we offer our members a wide range of vital business services including advice, financial expertise, support and a powerful voice in government. Our mission is to help smaller businesses achieve their ambitions. We are a not-for-profit organisation, led by a team of our members, which exists to serve the small business community across the UK.
Starting at just £147 in the first year plus a £30 joining fee for businesses with no employees we pride ourselves in supporting smaller businesses like yours.
Open to FSB members and non members:
FSB Coronavirus Hub (includes free Webinars)
FSB Membership Benefits include:
Creative Growth South
Creative Growth South is funded by the Partnership for South Hampshire and provides free personalised support to Creative Businesses and Freelancers. This could include a one-off diagnostic session. Or a sustained period of up to six personalised business support sessions, to enable your business to bounce back after the Lockdown. For more information visit their website.
Research and Development Tax Relief
Advisers are all alike, right? Not quite. At Cooper Parry we fly in the face of convention; we look to Disrupt, Lead and Make Life Count. This is how we see the world, and it’s why we’ve been hailed ‘the rebels of accountancy’. We build relationships with our clients that break the mould. And we’re never afraid to give our opinion. Why? Because that’s how we’ll help you to flourish financially, and free up your time to get the most out of life.
Our R&D tax team, led in the Solent Region by Jonny Brewster, specialises in helping growing businesses that design / develop / improve products or processes to obtain cash repayments from HMRC, to help accelerate their growth journey, build headcount sooner and bring ideas to market quicker.
Manufacturing Growth Programme
The Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP) supports SME Manufacturers to make improvements by identifying, understanding and removing their barriers to growth.
Support tailored to your business:
- A dedicated, experienced, Manufacturing Growth Manager to provide on-going support
- A comprehensive business diagnostic tool, GROWTHmapper for manufacturers
- Identify opportunities and create plans for growth and improvement
- Work with the best external experts to implement those plans
- Using an average 35% of the cost of implementing an improvement project
- Connect to wider support to maximise opportunities for growth
What MGP means for Manufacturing SMEs
If you are an SME manufacturer, the Manufacturing Growth programme provides many advantages for you, including:
- An independent business review to identify opportunities for business improvement and growth
- A diagnostic tool specifically designed to help benchmark your business against internal aspiration and goals
- A detailed action plan guiding you through the process of improving your business
- On-going business support with a trusted and experienced Manufacturing Growth Manager
- Access to grants to co-fund your improvement project
- Guidance to access other support mechanisms and manufacturing themed workshops available from Summer 2019