Support service celebrates 1 year with £1.5m grants committed to Northumberland businesses

Northumberland business support service celebrates one year of delivery, supporting over 300 micro-small businesses from pre-start to established across the County.

The success of the Northumberland Small Business Service has been gratefully received by the hundreds of businesses and individuals who have signed up to receive free support from workshops, 1-2-1 support and Capital Grant funding.

The Northumberland Small Business Service (NSBS), is delivered by Advance Northumberland on behalf of Northumberland County Council. The project is part funded by the North East Combined Authority and by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund with the North East Combined Authority as the lead authority.

The service provides support to small and micro businesses and entrepreneurs across Northumberland with a particular focus on supporting rural businesses to unlock the barriers to growth for businesses and start-ups. The programme’s dedicated team and partners have now provided over 800 hours of support to eligible businesses, through workshops and 1-2-1 specialist support covering a range of topics to help businesses including Digital Marketing, Finance, HR and Business Resilience as well as specific support to Farm Enterprises delivered through the Northumberland National Park Authority.

Alongside delivery of workshops and specialist one to one support, the programme has now committed £1.5m in Capital Grant funding and unlocking a further £2.2m of private sector investment from Rural businesses who are looking to increase productivity and/or diversify their business profile.

Some of the capital grant has been awarded to the high-profile revamp of family favourite, Brocksbushes Farm. Harry Dickinson, Director of Brocksbushes said: “(the grant) will take our business to the next level and give us a home that can accommodate the current demand, with room to grow in the future."

Prudhoe based business, OpenWorks who have also accessed Grant support state that. Neil Armstrong, Engineer Director at OpenWorks continued: “This grant has enabled OpenWorks to seize a time-sensitive development opportunity that will benefit the North East, through the creation of direct jobs and increased volume of work to the local supply chain”. “The team have been extremely supportive, and readily available to answer any queries we have had regarding grants or support for small businesses, It has been a brilliant experience from start to finish.”

As well as grants, businesses who have attended workshops said they “gained a lot of understanding” and the workshops are “worthwhile” to help them grow and sustain their businesses.

In the programme’s infancy, 100 jobs have already been created and safeguarded within the region with projections to see this number quadruple over the next few years of the programme lifetime.

Councillor Richard Wearmouth, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Supporting Business and Opportunities at Northumberland County Council said: “The Northumberland Small Business Service is helping to drive growth and resilience of businesses across Northumberland.

"As a County Council, economic growth is one of our key drivers and the support offered through this programme is helping to deliver this ambition."

Interim NSBS Programme Manager, Liz Nelson said: “NSBS is a great opportunity for businesses and individuals thinking about starting their own business. The free support is invaluable for the Northumberland business community, and the team look forward to more milestones over the next few years."

Eligible businesses can access the support through the service until 2026 and are actively encouraged to get in touch with the team to learn more about the support available to them.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and places, supporting local businesses, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus. Click or tap if you trust this link.">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus

If you would like to register or find out more about the Northumberland Small Business Service, please visit http://www.northumberlandsmallbusiness.co.uk/. Click or tap if you trust this link.">www.northumberlandsmallbusiness.co.uk or contact the team at business@advancenorthumberland.co.uk