East Midlands Accelerator extends support

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East Midlands Accelerator

extends support until autumn

Businesses in areas of the East Midlands considered by Government to be most in need now have longer to benefit from a fully-subsidised programme of training, events and consultancy – after an extension was granted to the East Midlands Accelerator project.

The £5.27m programme, which is being led by the Chamber, is partfunded by Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund (UKCRF) and delivered in the seven areas of the East Midlands chosen by Government for UKCRF support: Bassetlaw, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak, Leicester city, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Nottingham city.

Support, which was due to be available until the end of June but will now run until the autumn, is being offered at every step of a company’s journey – whether it be setting up a new venture, improving products and processes, upskilling staff, digital transformation or taking the first steps to decarbonise business operations and develop sustainability plans.

There is a firm focus on supporting post-Covid recovery, rebooting and growth – particularly in those sectors that have been hit hardest by the pandemic and considered to be vital to the acceleration of the region, such as manufacturing, the visitor economy, retail and wholesale.

The Chamber’s deputy chief executive Diane Beresford said: “Our consortium partners of universities and business support agencies have invested great efforts in creating a wide-reaching programme of support, but the biggest challenge was always going to be delivering our ambitions by the original June deadline.

“Many businesses – particularly those in the visitor economy – continue to face the effects of Covid, whether that be ongoing recruitment issues or staff shortages owing to required isolation.

“This extension affords businesses more time in meeting the requirements of any grants or growth vouchers they have received. It also offers greater choice in when they might participate in training, and take advantage of recruitment opportunities offered by the Kickstart Accelerator or graduate and post-graduate placements in net zero and digital.”

DIANE BERESFORD

The project aims to pilot new approaches ahead of the launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is expected to match the levels of funding previously enjoyed by the UK under the European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund.

It features five strands – a Net Zero Accelerator, Digital Transformation Accelerator, Start Up to Scale Up Accelerator, Kickstart Accelerator and Financial Accelerator.

Businesses can access the full range of East Midlands Accelerator support at emc-dnl.co.uk/ema.