THE GROWTH HUB

A lifeline for local businesses

Covid-19 has had a profound impact on businesses across Cornwall. The national lockdowns have seen ‘non-essential’ businesses forced to close for months at a time. Social distancing measures have constrained shops, restaurants and cafés from operating at capacity. Travel restrictions and closed workplaces have had a huge impact on footfall in town centres.

They have booked over 700 business reviews and supported close to 1,100 people, as well as managing a £1.4 million Covid support grant funding scheme which was fully subscribed within 45 minutes of launching. Growth Hub operations director, Stu Anderson, says: “We’ve seen huge demand for our services and it’s no surprise when you consider how reliant our area is on the visitor economy and the ripple effect the closures have had on other areas like pubs, restaurants and town centres.

On the front line of helping businesses cope with the pandemic is the team at the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub. Since 2016 Because of Covid we they have provided free and impartial help to over had to find another 3,000 new and established way of keeping income coming in and businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, signposting them to business support when it first started and advice. anything indoors just In the early weeks of the wasn’t happening. Since we have done pandemic the Growth Hub saw a fivefold increase in phone calls and a fourfold the outside stuff we increase in web traffic from have got six or seven weddings booked for businesses looking for help and information. And although those early peaks “But there is also reason for optimism because we have seen first-hand next year. We probably have levelled off, between how resilient businesses can be, by wouldn’t have gone down this road, so March and October there was a 187% increase in people using the Growth adapting what they do to the realities of Covid. We’re hugely encouraged by how many enquiries we’ve had it definitely helped Hub website and a 289% because, whatever the circumstances without a doubt. Toby from Axe Heads, an axe increase in new enquiries. In the same period the Growth Hub team handled for their business, people are looking for advice and guidance on how to move forward.” throwing venue which diversified almost 5,000 phone calls, There are 38 Growth Hubs across with Growth Hub support to offer spending the equivalent England, one for each Local Enterprise activities outside. of 53 days on the phone, Partnership (LEP) area. Last summer and close to 600 webchats. the Government provided extra

Business is always changing, even without Covid. The Growth Hub has always got their finger on the pulse. Especially for me, who has been running a business for sixteen years and I bumbled through setting it up, it was good just to do some general business house-keeping.

Kerra’s Catering, events catering company run by Kerra Buchanan.

Growth Hub case study

Among the thousands of businesses that have been helped by the Growth Hub in recent months is Fiona from the Old Post House B&B in St Just.

Her small business was gearing up for the start of the season after spending the winter completing refurbishments when lockdown hit.

“It was just a nightmare and I didn’t know what to do,” she admits.

Reaching out to the Growth Hub was a lifeline for Fiona. In the early stages of the pandemic when support was just starting to get rolled out, the Growth Hub team was a voice on the phone to talk through the challenges. This encouraged Fiona to be proactive, using the signposting that the team had given her to sign up to webinars on Covid compliance, marketing and managing finances. This helped her be ready for when the business could open in July.

When further grants and support was announced Fiona was kept informed, which helped her to apply for the Government grants as well as a Covid recovery Kickstart grant. This helped her promote her business through a digital guestbook.

“You are in a situation where you don’t know where to turn,” she says. “You can see your lovely business that you have built up, and think it is going to collapse. Just having a voice on the phone who is trying to help you really kept me going and encouraged me to be proactive.”

funding for Growth Hubs via LEPs, recognising the vital work they do, including feeding intelligence back to ministers about the impact of Covid on local economies.

For Stu and his team this meant recruiting three additional advisors and extending free and impartial support to all businesses regardless of size or sector, with an increased focus on town centres and tourism.

He says: “We talk to lots of businesses who are still looking to grow, and others who are starting up, but we also speak to businesses who are in distress because of Covid and having to deal with things they’ve never encountered before. The feedback we’ve had is that businesses appreciate having a friendly voice on the end of the phone, someone who understands what they’re going through and can offer practical help as well as a sympathetic ear. “We’ve been here for them through the pandemic, and we’re still here for them. Taking time to talk can make a real difference.” The Growth Hub team are also working to help businesses understand the impact the UK’s exit from the EU may have in areas such as employment, supply chain as well as import and export. They are standing by to signpost businesses to the support and information they will need.

It is impartial, free and independent and works with a full range of local businesses, from sole traders and not for profit organisations, to start-up and established businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

For more information and to discuss your business with the Growth Hub, call 01209 708660 or visit www.ciosgrowthhub.com I remember it started by meeting someone from the Growth Hub and from there we were signposted to various places which, over time, has helped to put us in the position we are in. Even if you are not considering changing or growing just look up and look out and try and spend a bit of time working on your business and not just in it.

Harry from Dennis Cove Campsite in Padstow.

The Growth Hub is part-funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Cornwall Council and the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership.