Business support scheme offers funding options
BUSINESSES across Argyll and Bute are taking advantage of a European-funded business support programme launched at the end of last year.
More than 20 local businesses have registered for the Business Gateway Local Growth Accelerator Programme and four have already been approved for grant funding.
Argyll and Bute Council’s Business Gateway is encouraging growing businesses to get in touch to find out more about how they could benefit from the support available.
The programme gives growing local businesses the chance to access grant funding and specialist advice to help them expand.
The programme, totalling almost £550,000, is funded by Argyll and Bute Council and the European Regional Development Fund and is open until the end of December 2018 or until funds are fully allocated, if sooner.
The types of grant available are a growth grant of up to £5,000, a new employee or graduate placement grant of up to £12,000, and training, trade fair and accreditation grants of up to £1,500 for businesses in key growth sectors.
The specialist advice on offer from subject experts includes up to two days of free advice on human resources, eCommerce, digital, marketing, growth strategy, funding and tendering.
To access support, businesses must first register for the programme.
The programme is open to micro-, small- or medium-sized businesses based in Argyll and Bute aiming to increase their turnover by £50,000 or more within the next three years.
Anyone wanting to register or discuss their eligibility should visit www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/ bglgap or talk to a Business Gateway adviser on 01546 604 555.
A Business Gateway adviser will work with businesses registered for the programme to develop a growth plan and access relevant support. The programme is an additional service and complementary to the support already offered by Business Gateway. Anyone not eligible for the programme is also being encouraged to talk to Business Gateway as other external sources of funding may be available to help a business start-up, survive, or grow.
Workshop places still available
A LIMITED number of spaces are still available at free business workshops coming up soon in Mid Argyll.
The half-day ‘Better business websites’ workshop on March 14 in Inveraray is for businesses already online.
Having the right website, which is planned, designed, optimised and managed to match business objectives, will help deliver real measurable results and this workshop covers how to improve a website through design, content, usability and search engine optimisation. It is being delivered for Business Gateway by Gary Ennis, founder of NS Design Ltd, an award-winning digital agency. Gary has delivered hundreds of digital workshops for Business Gateway across Scotland and is a former CEO of the Year at the Digital Technology Awards.
The half-day ‘Practical basic book-keeping’ workshop will run in Lochgilphead on March 21. Those new to business and with little or no formal training in book-keeping will benefit from this workshop, which provides the starting point for good record keeping and understanding financial information.
Aimed at beginners to e-commerce looking to build their own website or looking for some guidance before approaching a web designer, the one-day ‘Build your own business website’ course is running on March 28 in Inveraray. No prior knowledge or skills are required other than basic web browsing and text editing skills.
This practical workshop goes step by step through how to develop a basic business website and maintain it using a free content management tool.
Four additional digital skills workshops are taking place in Oban in the coming weeks. ‘Introduction to social media’ on March 22, DigitalBoost ‘Digital marketing strategy’ on April 5, DigitalBoost ‘Paid-for digital advertising’ on April 5 and DigitalBoost ‘Producing engaging online content’ on April 6.
To book a place at any of these workshops, contact Business Gateway on 01546 604 555 or email business.gateway@argyll-bute.gov.uk.
Several of these workshops are not due to be repeated until the autumn so anyone currently interested in improving their skills is encouraged to book a place at these spring workshops.