Case studies
Business environment ( continued )
webinars have remained open to for businesses to view when convenient , with over a thousand views to date .
As the UK completed its transition out of the European Union ( EU ), the Growth Hub delivered an additional short-term support scheme funded by BEIS to assist businesses as they adapted their operations as new regulations were introduced including importing from the EU , travelling , living and working in the EU and moving goods to or from Northern Ireland . This programme reached 3,000 businesses between January 2021 and the end of March when it came to a close .
Our Business Intelligence and Networking Group ( BING ) has been an important reference group for our business support delivery . Its membership was extended
( Covers period April 2020-April 2021 ).
and by the end of the year it comprised 25 different organisations including 16 business representation organisations and representation from three government departments . At the meetings we were able to learn about how our business community was coping on the ground , feeding that into our service design and in return BING members learnt about the enhanced services that local businesses could access .
Gera Solutions
“ I was searching online for local business support and the Swindon and Wiltshire Growth Hub was one of the first websites I visited , and then kept returning to . I registered as a Growth Hub member and connected with the team , who have provided introductions to other businesses and to organisations , such as the Department for International Trade , that can offer advice and support . I was also invited to join the first round of the Peer Networks programme ( the Women in Business cohort ), which enabled me to forge valuable links with other local business leaders . The Gera . Solutions website has benefited from a Digital Review which helped us immensely in fine-tuning our digital presence ; in addition , we have been invited to many informative , useful webinars .”
Total Foot Health
“ We discovered the Growth Hub through a webinar session we found online . The feedback form at the end of the webinar captured our areas of need and the Growth Hub contacted us directly to discuss ways they could help . Since then , it has supported us in a number of ways . We have dipped into training webinars most relevant for the development of Total Foot Health . The sales and marketing sessions were especially helpful in shaping our marketing approach . We ’ ve also benefitted from the Peer Networks programme . Through the action learning approach , we ’ ve further developed our thinking around an online booking system . Plus , we continue to benefit from ongoing connection with the businesses within this group .
The Digital Leadership Course had a significant impact in helping us digitalise many processes and join systems together , creating greater efficiencies , saving costs and an improved patient service . On top of that we ’ ve successfully received COVID-19 grants administered by the Growth Hub .”