Thousands of SMES offered support by development body

GROWTH: Business Gateway helps 9,000 growth stage firms get off ground

More than 9,000 new Scottish start-up companies received support from Business Gateway last year.

The group – whose nationwide network is operated by local councils including Business Gateway Tayside and Fife – provides SME firms with a range of advice, workshops and networking opportunities to help them in their earlystage growth.

New figures show the service interacted with more than 53,000 individual service users in the past year, with 9,129 new companies given assistance to get off the ground, 47% of which were women-led.

The service also completed more than 13,000 digital interactions during the year after the Scottish Government provided £1.7 million of new funding for the Digitalboost scheme.

Steven Heddle, chairman of the Business Gateway board, said: “Since control of the Business Gateway service passed from Scottish Enterprise to local authorities in 2008, 99,004 new businesses have been created which in turn have created many thousands of new jobs. The growth ambitions of tens of thousands of existing businesses have also been supported through our network of business advisers based in local offices across the whole of Scotland.”

The annual report card found strong support for the service.

“Scotland’s SMES show resilience and determination to succeed and 87% of Business Gateway customers say that using the free service will help them achieve their ambitions,” Hugh Lightbody, chief officer Business Gateway National Unit, said.

“Over the last 10 years the Business Gateway service has responded positively in response to specific local needs, challenging and unprecedented economic conditions as well as the rapid growth of digital technologies.”

business@thecourier.co.uk

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Over the last 10 years the Business Gateway service has responded positively in response to specific local needs. HUGH LIGHTBODY, CHIEF OFFICER, BUSINESS GATEWAY NATIONAL UNIT