- Growth Hub Advisers available for telephone triage consultations
- Grants available from today to support SMEs with the purchase of ICT equipment to enable homeworking, and procurement of contingency & crisis management advice and support
- Online workshops will be held in the coming days and weeks on issues related to business resilience, cashflow management, and home working methods.
The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (Humber LEP) has issued its initial support measures for the region’s businesses facing tough trading conditions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Through its Humber Business Growth Hub, the LEP will provide grants to enable businesses to facilitate working from home, while the Growth Hub’s business advisors will also be on hand to provide support through telephone consultations.
Meanwhile, the LEP is convening regular conference calls with business support and membership organisations to understand issues businesses are facing and communicate these to Government to help inform future support.
The LEP is also liaising with the Humber Local Resilience Forum, the multi-agency emergency planning partnership in the Humber that includes local authorities, the emergency services and the NHS.
Further actions are being discussed with partners and will be announced in the coming days.
This response has been steered by the Humber LEP’s Business Development Board, which met on Thursday, where members fed back many challenges and potential impacts of the pandemic on the region’s businesses.
Chair of the Humber LEP, Lord Haskins, said: “There will be difficult times ahead for many Humber businesses and we want to ensure they have access to support. Our Growth Hub is there to assist with questions and advice, and from today we will be providing financial support to SMEs needing to purchase new IT equipment to facilitate remote working.”
In light of current Government advice, the Growth Hub has taken the decision to postpone face to face business support, including workshops and events, however we are developing online resources to replace the cancelled events in the coming weeks so no businesses are left without support.
Meanwhile, BEIS has asked Growth Hubs to report weekly on the economic impact, using the same process as Brexit impact reporting. Where there are issues identified that Government could help resolve, the LEP will escalate these through this channel.
Businesses should contact the Humber Business Growth Hub via email at growth.hub@humberlep.org or visit the Growth Hub’s website or visit the Humber LEP’s Coronavirus Business Support page.