Startup and growth support: from a single source
With thanks to Scott English, CFE for allowing us to host a panel session at this week’s Elite Business Live event on a topic close to my heart which is how to make life easier for small firms. This week’s newsletter focuses on the support highlighted by panellists – and a few updates on programme extensions and expansions.
Growth Hubs take you on a journey
There is a national network of 41 Growth Hubs operating across England, rooted in local areas. Accessing support via your Growth Hub affords you an account management style approach where you are guided from start-up to growth, with onboarding to relevant programmes and funding, plus added services such as plugging SMEs into local Universities.
British Business Bank gets you funded
Good news from the British Business Bank shared with the audience is that from 6th April 2026 StartUp Loans will be available to businesses who have been trading for up to 5 years (an increase on the current 3 years.) Loans of up to £25,000 per director are available so for a company that has 3 co-founders/directors, that goes up to £75,000 of lending. This is a personal loan and the repayable interest rate is changing in April from 6 to 7.5%. As well as securing funds, StartUp Loan recipients are matched with a mentor, get help with their business plan, and have access to peer learning, specialists and workshops.
Help to Grow builds you into a leader
Founders are encouraged to access support based on hearing the stories of others and we heard a wonderful story from Eunice Mwale who enrolled on Help to Grow Management with the University of Derby as she felt she was too involved ‘in’ the business and not able to step back and see the problems. Eunice cannot speak more highly of the structured learning of the course and the mentor to whom she was matched as it has enabled her to delegate, grow the business, and now have the time to share her experience with others. As Eunice so elegantly put it:
‘I’m able to come here today due to what I learnt about the art of delegation’
The cost of Help to Grow is £750 to the business owner, with the remaining 90% of cost covered by the government. Good news shared on the panel is that the programme is set to continue for another 3 years.
Department for Business & Trade has your back
More sources of support were shared including work to stamp out late payments with government set to release its response to the late payment consultation by end of this month, additional funding for the British Business Bank with a £10bn uplift which comes into effect on 1st April, work on digital adoption and skills, and continued delivery of the 200 measures included in the Small Business Plan. The audience was left in no doubt that the Department for Business & Trade is ‘on the job’ of delivering finance and support for small firms and a single front door to access all the above which is the Business Growth Service.
The future is devolved and data driven
Panellists looked forward to the future of small business support based on increased devolution to Mayoral Combined Authorities which is seeing strong public/private partnerships formed in proximity to the founders for which support is intended, and another bright spot being the tools available to small firms that accelerate performance such as cloud accounting plus sales and marketing platforms.
A growing amount of quality data on individual company performance was cited as something on which we can build more personalised support. To match that, an exciting development this week was the launch of a Call for Evidence on business systems integration to look at how data collectors can work together to gain insight on how a business is performing in order to reduce time spent on admin. If we get this right, it will save hours for busy business owners. Read and respond to the call for evidence here.
With thanks to wonderful panellists Richard Jeffery Tracey Kilty Eunice Mwale and Paula Crofts, and to the ever-excellent Oli Barrett for being a true master of ceremonies. I hope the audience gained value from the session.