Cheshire West and Chester Council Business Support
Cheshire West and Chester Council Business Support
Cheshire West and Chester Council works with key organisations and stakeholders operating across the Cheshire West area to create a prosperous business environment that encourages and supports businesses to start, survive, thrive and grow, and to help local people to have access to local jobs.
They can support businesses with: Understanding, navigating and accessing local and national support programmes, Introductions to appropriate supply chains and networks, Commercial sites and premises search, Recruitment and apprenticeship information and guidance and Familiarisation visits for those businesses relocating to the area.
They also help businesses to work with other Council services, including Business Rates; Planning and Building Control; Licensing; Environmental Health; etc.
The UKSPF Business Support Programme is offering a mix of support activities, 121 guidance and grants for eligible businesses. The programme is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, supported by Cheshire West and Chester Council and 4 delivery partners.
The different support projects available are shown below, to find out more about any of them then please
Start Up and Micro Business Project: Encouraging enterprise activity, supporting new business start-ups, and helping micro businesses (less than 10 employees) to develop and innovate.
• Fully funded, impartial advice and information
• Grants between £500-£2,500 for eligible business to start and develop their business
High Growth Project: Supporting growing Cheshire West and Chester businesses to expedite their investment and growth plans.
• Fully funded, impartial advice and information
• Support businesses through 121 diagnostic to identify how growth plans can be delivered
• Match funded grants up to £20,000 for eligible business to implement their growth plan
Innovation Project: Supporting growing Cheshire West and Chester businesses to invest in adopting new technologies and processes to build their resilience and support new development and sustained growth in their business.
• Fully funded, impartial advice and information from industry experts
• Support businesses through 121 diagnostic and/or workshops to identify innovative opportunities in their business: processes; products; customers; technology
• Match funded grants up to £16,000 for business to invest in innovative projects
Innovation Race to Zero (Decarbonisation) Project: Aimed at supporting Cheshire West and Chester businesses towards improving their energy efficiency and progressing to Net Zero.
• Fully funded, impartial advice and information from industry experts
• Support businesses through 121 diagnostic and/or workshops to help businesses identify low or zero carbon opportunities for their business
• Match funded grants up to £16,000 for eligible business to invest in energy efficiency and net zero projects
Workspace Project: Aimed at using a mix of existing workspace to encourage entrepreneurship activity and collaborative space, with wrap around business support, for start-up businesses and existing home-based businesses and home workers to develop and grow, and share good practice, knowledge and networking.
• Support through 121 diagnostic to help explore the current, local business support landscape and access to networking and/or workshops being delivered as part of the wider UKSPF business support programme
• Limited fully funded access to one of the workspace locations involved in this project
The projects that have grants available have specific grants for rural businesses.