THE Liverpool City Region Local Growth Hub, a new platform making it easier for businesses in the City Region to discover the best commercial advice and support to help them grow, has officially been launched.
Developed by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in consultation with business, government, local authorities and support organisations, the Local Growth Hub is designed to provide a single access point for businesses across the six local authority areas, to discover the right advice and support they need to flourish.
The new Local Growth Hub web portal localgrowthhub.com aims to create a joined up approach to business support by actively engaging SMEs and growth businesses. By connecting them with over 300 specialist advisors from a wide range of key professional and commercial disciplines, it will help to drive economic growth in the City Region.
The new service is supported by eight Local Growth Hub regional brokers who play a strategic role in signposting and co-ordinating local and national support, making it easier for businesses to access the face to face advice they need. The regional brokers are: Liverpool City Region LEP, Liverpool Vision, Halton Borough Council, Knowsley Chamber of Commerce, The Women’s Organisation, Invest Sefton, St Helens Chamber and Wirral Chamber of Commerce.
Not only will localgrowthhub.com actively enable a business growth mind-set by delivering a client driven service, it also offers a wealth of other information for both business and registered advisors including key industry events and live tender opportunities from SMEs across the region.
Chair of the LEP, Robert Hough, said: “The launch of the Local Growth Hub marks a hugely important milestone for business support across our City Region.
“We often hear from businesses that the business support landscape is a real challenge to negotiate; the Local Growth Hub will now provide a support network to deliver long-term economic growth across our region. It has been developed to serve one function – to help businesses grow.”
Robert added: “Many businesses simply aren’t aware of the support available to them, and the innovative Local Growth Hub portal opens the door to opportunity for businesses.”
Jo Austin, Engagement and Digital Marketing Coordinator for the Women’s Organisation, said: “The Women’s Organisation have proudly been offering enterprise support in the Liverpool City Region for 20 years this year. Our experience over those 20 years has shown us that there is definitely an ongoing need for businesses to be supported from concept to growth in order to sustain their enterprises. Our region has a wealth of expertise to offer those businesses, which makes this a fantastic place to grow an enterprise. We are delighted to be a part of the growth hub, ensuring that local businesses have the opportunity to tap into that expert support creating businesses that thrive.”
Businesses can access the Local Growth Hub services at localgrowthhub.com, via their Local Growth Hub broker or on Twitter @localgrowthhub and LinkedIn Local Growth Hub.
