One-to-one expert advice to help local businesses recover and flourish
A timely new programme of business support called ‘Business Scale-up Programme’ has recently been launched to assist businesses in South Gloucestershire bounce back from the pandemic and build resilience. Funded by South Gloucestershire Council, the programme is delivered by business support consultancy, Cool Ventures, and offers small business owners free, one-to-one support to help their businesses get back on track after two tough years of trading.
The Business Scale-up Programme provides up to 12 hours of specialist one-to-one support and is tailored to tackle the individual needs of the businesses taking part. This programme allows small business owners to clarify their goals and challenges with a Cool Ventures consultant before working alongside one or more business experts who specialise in either strategy, finance, marketing or HR and can offer practical support or advice.
Cllr Toby Savage, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council with Cabinet responsibility for the Local Economy and Devolution, said: “Small businesses are vital to our local economy and we want to do all that we can to help them to thrive, so I am very pleased the council has been able to fund this personalised support.”
He went on to say, “I encourage any eligible businesses in the area to consider taking part in this beneficial programme. Having tailored 1:1 support and shared experience from experts specialising in either strategy, finance, marketing or HR is an excellent opportunity and will help to ensure that local companies have the skills they need for the future.”
To be eligible for this fully funded support, small businesses must be based within South Gloucestershire, have achieved a turnover of over £10,000 and have fewer than 49 employees. If your business isn’t eligible for this programme, Cool Ventures, also offers other schemes via the South Gloucestershire Business Support Service https://coolventures.co.uk/south-gloucestershire-funded-support/.
Cool Ventures provides business support and coaching for businesses across the West of England and have helped over two thousand companies in South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset since 2017.
Sue Marchant, Managing Director at Cool Ventures based in Chipping Sodbury said: “The last two years have been exceptionally challenging for local businesses and we are hearing about the same issues again and again – recruitment and staff retention challenges, supply chain delays and rising costs. The causes of these challenges are multi-faceted and include the impact of the pandemic on customer behaviour and spending patterns, rising inflation, post-Brexit changes to import and export activity, and the changing working environment. This new programme, with its combination of specialist expertise, hands-on practical and targeted support differs from more general business support programmes and can help small businesses re-focus on their strengths to flourish, grow or return to their pre-pandemic form.”
Emma Doney, owner of Adorno Companions and Adorno Community Day Centre, a South Gloucestershire-based organisation supporting clients in later life said, “We decided to take advantage of this fully funded, intensive business advice programme because we needed help with our marketing strategy to enable us to grow and refine our services. Cool Ventures matched us with a marketing and branding expert Natasha Bye. Natasha was excellent in helping us to define our brand values and identify target audiences. We are halfway through the agreed support plan but I already have a much clearer understanding of who we are and what makes us stand out. I feel supported and enabled and look forward to moving my business forward.’’
To find out if your South Gloucestershire business is eligible for the Business Scale-up Programme visit:
To find out about other funded business support in South Gloucestershire visit https://coolventures.co.uk/south-gloucestershire-funded-support/
To apply for these programmes or to hear about the support available in Bath and North East Somerset, contact Cool Ventures on E: info@coolventures.co.uk /T:08000 418293/ www.coolventures.co.uk
