The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 5: Autumn 2017 | Page 24

INVEST IN BATH
The latest news from Bath and North East
Somerset Council’s Business Growth &
Development team
By Councillor Paul Myers, Cabinet Member for Economic and Community Regeneration,
Bath and North East Somerset Council.
The Bath and North East Somerset area is a great place to do
business. Our business community is connected, collaborative,
and inventive.
The vast majority of businesses in Bath and North East
Somerset – 99.5% - employ less than 250 people. Of these,
a whopping 89% employ less than 10 people.
These businesses create jobs and help to strengthen
our communities, and a huge amount of passion and hard
work is poured into them by small business owners who
are usually very involved when it comes to day-to-day
operations.
A substantial network of free business support has been
created to help those small business owners make the best
strategic decisions, and make new ideas work.
Free support is also available to encourage more people
to start their own business, helping to ensure that those
businesses have the best chance of survival.
These services are being funded by a range of
organisations across the West of England – including Bath
and North East Somerset Council. Certain activities are also
part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
We’ve highlighted here some of the programmes
underway and available right now to businesses and
residents based in Bath and North East Somerset. We’ve had
great feedback from businesses using the services, as you’ll
see below. So don’t put it off – get in touch!
You can find out more about local, sub-regional and national business support, grant
funding schemes, workspace projects and useful events at www.investinbath.co.uk
The West of England Growth Hub is also a great source of support information for
local businesses – for more information see www.wearegrowth.co.uk
YOUR STARTING POINT: THE BATH AND NORTH EAST
SOMERSET BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICE:
www.investinbath/business/support/getadvice
A great starting point for SME business owners and new
entrepreneurs looking to discuss business ideas and goals.
This free service, which is part of the Enterprising West
of England programme (see below), is available to anyone
living or running an SME business in Bath and North East
Somerset.
Since 2013, the service has helped over 90 businesses
to start, and has offered advice to over 700 small business
owners operating in a range of sectors, including retail,
creative and digital, and professional services.
Face-to-face time is available with experienced and
approachable SME advisors Cool Ventures. Ideas can be
bounced, problems dissected, and potential strategies for
start-up, survival and growth discussed. Specialist advice
(for example accountancy, property and IP advice) is also
The Enterprising West of England Programme supports
SME businesses across the West of England LEP region
Delivered in partnership with:
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017
Funded by:
available. A workshop programme covers a range of
topics including Starting in Business, Finance Basics and
marketing strategy.
Advisors can refer you to more intensive support within
the Enterprising West of England programme where
appropriate.
Brett Edgecombe, owner of IT consultancy 101 Data
Solutions, is clear about the benefits of the service. “Cool
Ventures helped us to look at our business objectively, with
fresh eyes. We worked with them to develop a strategy,
and implement processes which offer the very best service
to customers. We’ve had great feedback and would highly
recommend the service to other small businesses.”