New Anglia Growth Hub is celebrating four years of offering impartial advice to thousands of businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Growth Hub was set up in 2014 to provide free face-to-face business support. Since then, it’s advisers have engaged with 7,460 businesses and given 36,468 hours of support. That works out as 24 hours of business support a day, 7 days a week since the Hub started operating.
The anniversary comes as the Hub launches its new website, designed by Norwich-based web agency Affinity. The purpose of this new website is to reflect changes in the business support landscape and to improve take-up of the Growth Hub’s services. Among its features are an extensive knowledge bank for businesses, a revamped support directory and a more accessible layout.
Among the latest businesses to have been supported by the Growth Hub are:
- Needham Market-based skincare brand HBD Europe Ltd, which received a £120,000 grant to build a new manufacturing plant and create 50 new jobs. Managing Director of HBD, Paul Mason, said: “It has taken two years but we have successfully been able to plan and build a manufacturing plant which includes mixing vessels, bottle filling lines and a laboratory, none of which we could have done without the funding we received.”
- ASAMS Ltd, a Great Yarmouth company which tests metal components for the Oil and Gas industry, which received a £12,500 grant for a new milling machine. Thomas Whiskin, Director at ASAMS Ltd, said “There was a lot of personal support during the process and we look forward to working with New Anglia on future expansion projects.”
Nigel Best, Manager of New Anglia Growth Hub, said “Our business advisers have been working hard over the past four years to ensure that local businesses get the support they deserve. The positive feedback we get from many of these companies tells us that we’re making a difference to the local economy.”
Doug Field, Chair of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said “The Growth Hub plays a significant role in fulfilling our ambitions set out in the Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk, helping businesses grow, create new jobs and raise productivity. We at New Anglia LEP look forward to the Growth Hub’s continued success.”
The New Anglia Growth Hub is part of the Business Growth Programme delivered by New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership in partnership with Menta, Nwes, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and Suffolk County Council and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
To contact the New Anglia Growth Hub today and speak to a Business Adviser, call 0300 333 6536, visit the website at https://www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk or email at [email protected].
