In the last 12 months, the Hub, has worked with 6,341 Mersey businesses to help them gain access to practical business support and advice, which is predicted could result in the future creation of 2,584 jobs

More than 6,000 Liverpool city region businesses have been given practical business support through the Local Growth Hub.

In the last 12 months, the Hub, has worked with 6,341 Mersey businesses to help them gain access to practical business support and advice, which is predicted could result in the future creation of 2,584 jobs.

The service, which is backed by The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, was launched in 2016 to unlock barriers to business support by increasing the awareness of the public and private sector support available to entrepreneurs, SMEs and scale-up companies. 

It is managed by Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and delivered through a network of regional partners comprising Halton Council, Knowsley Chamber of Commerce, Liverpool Vision, The Women’s Organisation, Invest Sefton, St Helens Chamber and Wirral Chamber of Commerce.

Each partner offers face-to-face business diagnostic, brokerage, advice and mentoring, making access to specific support simpler and more joined up for local businesses.

Collectively, the Local Growth Hub brokers carried out 3,000 in-depth business health checks in 2017, working in collaboration with each business to identify their immediate and longer-term support needs, including their goals and opportunities for growth.

More than 4,000 businesses were brokered into other areas of support, which included commercial advice, property support and access to finance, delivered through a strategic partnership with MSIF and the Finance Hub.

2017 also saw over 1,500 businesses referred into the 15 ERDF support programmes which have been set up for business in three key strategic areas: Innovation, Business Growth and Low Carbon – all co-ordinated through the local growth hub.

LEP managing director, Mark Basnett, said: “Small businesses and entrepreneurs are at the heart of our economy and it’s hugely encouraging to see what the Local Growth Hub has helped them to achieve in the last 12 months.”