Call out to Gloucestershire organisations: Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Entrepreneur and Start-up Business Support

Gloucestershire has a prosperous and resilient economy and there are major opportunities for expansion, with potential in high growth sectors.

On behalf of the national Growth Programme Board, the Department for Communities and Local Government is inviting Gloucestershire organisations to apply for the ERDF call - ‘Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises through Entrepreneur and Start-up Business Support’, with a value of up to £600,000.

The local European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Strategy states that by 2022, Gloucestershire aims to be “a hub of world class companies, with a diverse business portfolio and a reputation for starting and growing great businesses”. This call is looking to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises in Gloucestershire, specifically though the provision of entrepreneur and start-up business support.  In response to the opportunities and needs identified in Gloucestershire, this call seeks to invest European Regional Development Fund in the delivery of a multi-channel (ie online, telephone, face-to-face) guidance service for business start-ups and entrepreneurs with businesses that have been running for up to three years. The Gloucestershire Strategic Economic Plan, describes this type of service as the ‘Business Generator Service’.

Call Specification – Deadline 27^th May 2016 

Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Investment Priorities, allocated £600,000:

-          Promoting entrepreneurship, in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators.

Applicants under this call will need to demonstrate how activity and delivery will be co-ordinated, and made accessible through the Growth Hub in Gloucestershire. Applicants will also need to demonstrate how they will work locally with their Growth Hub, Local Enterprise Partnership and all business support provision provided by local public and private sector partners, without duplicating any existing business support services.

The ERDF required outputs that must be delivered, full details and how to apply can be found here.

If you have any questions, or would like any further information on the call please contact GFirst LEP on info@gfirstlep.com.