Northamptonshire Growth Hub awarded prestigious BIS contract for business support project

The Northamptonshire Growth Hub has been awarded one of only three contracts from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to carry out a business support simplification project.

The project will initially involve the Growth Hub team by carrying out a comprehensive review of all the support offered to businesses in Northamptonshire, in order to identify gaps in provision and areas where support is duplicated. Secondly, the Growth Hub team will recommend what new support is required and where a rationalisation of support is necessary. The aim of the project is to ensure that public money is used wisely and in the best way to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the support provided to the county’s businesses.

Since its launch in November 2013, the Growth Hub has helped several hundred Northamptonshire businesses to access a range of local business support services. This help, received by calling one telephone number, has signposted businesses to opportunities that will help them grow and develop, boosting their business performance as well as the local economy as a whole.

The Growth Hub was set up by a partnership arrangement between the University of Northampton, Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP) and Northamptonshire County Council.

Simon Denny, Director of Enterprise, Development and Social Impact at the University of Northampton, commented: “Only three of these contracts have been awarded in the UK and the result of the work that the Growth Hub carries out will inform business support, both locally and throughout the country.”