AMBITIOUS, GROWING BUSINESS? HELEN KNOX MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 20 TH OCTOBER 2015

THE LEEDS CITY REGION ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP (LEP) Supporting growing businesses is at the heart of the LEP’s plan to transform the Leeds City Region economy Making it easier for SMEs to find the support and funding they need to grow OVERVIEW A wide range of support is available - from the LEP and from our extensive network of national and local partners. The LEP growth service makes it easier for SMEs to get the right support to reach their full growth potential, with a single point of contact

ON TRACK FOR BUSINESS GROWTH There are 119,000 businesses in Leeds City Region, 99% of which are SMEs. If they don’t grow, our region won’t grow. Leeds City Region business growth rate is rising faster than the national average.

WE HELP SMALL BUSINESSES TO GROW We provide support and funding through our own services and through partners. Our Growth Service is here to help businesses explore the support that’s right for them. Finding finance or investment to grow Developing your workforce Support to exploring new export markets Develop online capabilities and build digital skills Develop new products and services

ONE ACCESS POINT FOR BUSINESS Helpline for business get in touch – x FTE Growth Managers across the City Region

SKILLS & TRAINING We help businesses to identify, develop and source training provision from the most appropriate training providers £13.9million available until March 2017 to help employers pay for skills development Grants of £500 - £50K for small and medium sized businesses. Typically up to 50% of the training is grant-funded Training supported can be from levels and could be both accredited and non-accredited - Mandatory/legislative training is not supported Target sectors:- Manufacturing & Engineering, Creative & Digital, Finance & Business, Hospitality & Tourism, Medical Technology, Transport & Logistics

APPRENTICESHIPS If you are expanding and finding it hard to recruit staff with job ready skills, an apprentice could be the answer. Support available: Help to recruit an apprentice Apprenticeship Grant for Employers’ (or ‘LEP AGE’) to recruit an apprentice Up to £2,000 per apprentice for eligible businesses, up to a maximum of 3 apprentices – time limited funding

FINANCE Grants from £10, ,000 for capital expenditure, suited to expansions or plant and machinery Loans from £500,000-1,000,000 to support capital projects, with particular focus on infrastructure Finance platform– FinPoint – for businesses to access business loans, leasing, invoice or trade finance from over 70 banks and alternative lenders by preparing a single finance application

EXPORT If we increase exports in the City Region by just 10% we have the potential to add more than £1bn to the regional economy per year. Support available through: UKTI ‘Not difficult, just different’, peer-to-peer business advice through Export Network, and support from Chambers.

SUPPORT FROM YOUR SME GROWTH MANAGER Help you navigate the support available Discuss your plans and ideas for growth and barriers to achieving it Undertake research and customise the information and contacts for your business to meet your growth needs Provide an on-going business support contact – to revisit queries and progress your plans

CONTACT US: OUR BUSINESS GROWTH SERVICE: JOIN OUR MAILING LIST: KEEP IN

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