Almost 3,000 businesses from across the Humber region were supported by the Humber LEP’s Business Growth Hub in the last year.

Overall, 2,972 businesses received either light, medium or high intensity support from the Hub from April 2019 – March 2020, which was an increase of 149 businesses from the year before. In addition, businesses that worked with the Growth Hub in 2019-20 were able to go on to secure £7.1M of private sector investment to enable their growth plans.

Throughout the coronavirus crisis, the Growth Hub’s advisors in the East Riding, Hull, North and North East Lincolnshire have been working with hundreds of businesses to offer invaluable support and advice as well as signposting to financial support and helping business owners navigate the various Government backed support measures and funding products in the form of loans and grants.

A survey of those receiving medium or high intensity support from the Growth Hub has shown that the vast majority of businesses who contacted the Growth Hub for support were happy with the help they received.

A total of 91 percent of respondents were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the quality of service offered, while 94 percent of the businesses who responded were also ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to recommend the Growth Hub to a friend or colleague.

Meanwhile, 71 percent of respondents said they had seen either a ‘large impact’ or ‘some notable impact’ on their businesses after using the service, while a further 92 percent said they were ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to use the service again in the next year.

Commenting on the service they received from their local Growth Hub Advisor, one business said: “The advice I’ve received has been valuable and my advisor has been excellent in his help and advice allowing me to see things from a different perspective” while another said: “Having the support of an advisor with knowledge of what support is available for local businesses is invaluable” while another remarked: “In these tough times we need support like this to redesign our business offer.”

Jon Brunton, Growth Hub Manager at the Humber LEP, said: “Looking back over the last 12 months, it’s great to see more businesses than ever before engaging with the Growth Hub and seeing so many taking advantage of all the support that we have on offer; which is of course fully-funded and therefore completely free to access. It’s no surprise that, since we launched our dedicated business growth product back in November 2018 – the #GrowMySME Programme – the feedback we’ve received from businesses shows that there is a definite need for our services and we’re keen to support as many as possible during this difficult time.

“Wherever you are based in the region and whatever industry your SME operates in, there is advice and support ready and waiting to suit your specific needs via our team of dedicated advisors. We also have a wide ranging webinar programme, grant funding, an exclusive ScaleUp Programme, support services to access new supply chains, and much more besides. Please get in touch with us and find out more about how we can help your business at absolutely no cost.”

Grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 are available from the Growth Hub to cover 40% of the cost of working with  consultants to create plans for safe working practices in reopened workplaces, strategies to enable business recovery, and measures to ensure business resilience for the longer term.

The Growth Hub is also examining what additional support the business community will need to revive and thrive once again as part of the Humber LEP’s economic recovery plan for the region, which is likely to include additional advisors, events & workshops, and grants.

More details on the grant schemes and how to apply can be found here: www.growmysme.co.uk/grants

Meanwhile, details of live webinars to support businesses with a range of issues can also be found here: www.growmysme.co.uk/events