West Suffolk business support and funding
Tuesday 19 December 2023
A range of schemes and grants have been established to help businesses continue to grow, develop, and thrive within West Suffolk.
West Suffolk businesses are encouraged to utilise the wide range of support and funding available to them.
Resources are available from the likes of the council, MENTA, and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. The individual schemes have all been carefully curated to offer targeted and specialist support to help businesses unlock their potential, tackle challenges and boost economic growth.
Business support
To help businesses achieve their goals the Growth Hub Business Support service offers free, fully funded, impartial support and advice for businesses who have been trading for over 12 months. The service will guide businesses to the ideal programmes and providers for the support needed.
For businesses just starting out on their journey, the West Suffolk start-up business support programme can provide comprehensive support and 1 to 1 workshops on a range of topics, including business planning, marketing, book-keeping, sustainability, sales and much more.
Sustainability
As the desire and need to become more sustainable grows, businesses can find funding and advice on energy efficiency to carbon reduction, net zero to solar.
West Suffolk Council funds the Greener Business Grant to help local small and medium enterprises (SME) and organisations reduce their energy use and save money, the council also operates the Solar for Business initiative which provides and installs solar panels onto the roof businesses for free. Electricity is generated from the panels and sold to back to the business at a rate lower than their current electricity tariff to help cut energy bills.
Additional services available include the Net Zero Innovation Fund, which covers startup costs towards projects that use innovation to enable an idea that can be scaled to make a real difference in the journey to Net Zero; the Net Zero Business Advisor Service where businesses can access a team of expert and impartial advisors to work towards net zero; the Business Transition to Net Zero Grant that is open to businesses with ambitions to reduce their carbon footprint and increase productivity.
Funding
A range of funding options are available to West Suffolk businesses to facilitate their growth and transformation.
The Suffolk Business Grant Scheme aims to provide support to businesses across Suffolk to grow and become more productive, to encourage innovation and to become more environmentally sustainable. Businesses can apply for revenue and capital grants between £5,000 and £10,000 with a maximum grant intervention of 50%.
Businesses with plans to invest in research and development or an innovation project, could benefit from a grant of between £1,000 and £25,000 from New Anglia LEP’s Growth Through Innovation Fund.
Councillor Indy Wijenayaka, cabinet member for Growth at West Suffolk Council, said “The continuing growth and development of businesses is of great importance to us, as it is to the individual businesses and entrepreneurs in West Suffolk. We want to ensure that businesses have all the support they need to tackle any challenges they face, and the funding required to succeed as we recognise the vital role businesses can play in our society. The council is always available to assist businesses from access to resources to finding land and premises.”
West Suffolk Council is on hand to provide free and impartial advice, support and direction for any business when they contact economic.development@westsuffolk.gov.uk.