Small business minister Anna Soubry announced the completed growth hub network on 14 May
The government’s growth hub network is complete, providing some 4.7m UK businesses with a nationwide support network to startup and scale up, it has been announced.
Each hub will work with local and national, public and private sector partner organisations to connect business owners around Britain.
Working in tandem with bodies such as the Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), universities, Enterprise Zones and banks, the hubs will work to coordinate local business support.
The completed network sees a live hub in each of the country’s 39 local enterprise partnership (LEPs) areas. Ahead of Growth Hub Week, which runs from 16 to 20 May, small business minister Anna Soubry iterated how important it has become to increase awareness of the support available to entrepreneurs and small business owners, both from public and private sectors.
In a statement, Soubry said: Growth hubs have already helped thousands of businesses and, with the full network up and running, every registered business in England can access the expertise they need to succeed. They will help entrepreneurs boost their business and create more jobs for people in the local area.
The government has announced funding of up to 24m available over the next two years for LEPs to carry on developing growth hubs and provide support to local businesses.
Goldman Sachs is one such private sector organisation that has promised to work alongside government and LEPs to deliver growth hubs and ensure the continued support for business at the local level.
The bank’s own small business growth programme 10, 000 Small Businesses already supports firms at the local level up and down the country, yet partner Michelle Pinggera believed further collaboration between the private and public sector is necessary.
Pinggera said: Following the expansion of our programme, we are delighted to now be working to help deliver this new programme focussing on regional economic growth within the LEPs and growth hubs. We are proud of this collaboration between private and public sectors.
The government has encouraged the public to back the growth hub network and support local businesses by tweeting about their local hub throughout Growth Hub Week. Small business owners can find out where their nearest hub is with the help of the government’s growth hub finder.
The Enterprise Act received Royal Assent on 4 May. How will it impact your business?
