Building a better future – two new initiatives to help transform your business

The regional Business Link service has announced two new initiatives to help businesses introduce change to transform their business performance.

The schemes, funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), are designed to support businesses that have less than 250 staff and that are trading in the East Midlands.

The Business Transformation Grant (BTG)
The BTG is designed to support the development and sustainability of your business and can fund projects identified through an in depth review with a Business Link adviser.

The BTG can support both revenue and capital projects.

Revenue
The revenue portion is to fund the cost of consultancy. Following a business review with Business Link, eligible businesses will be offered a choice of approved solution providers from the East Midlands Service Provider Register. Revenue grants can be provided for the following:

• Implementing solutions to substantially improve business efficiency
• Researching or assisting with the implementation of a move into a new market.
• Developing a product to sell to an existing market.
• Developing or implementing a new technology;
• Improving the competitive nature of internal and external supply chains to maximise potential and minimise time / costs.
• Non qualification based management and leadership training to ensure the action plan for change is embedded.

Capital
The capital grant will usually be alongside some other form of assistance such as mentoring, training or consultancy. Capital grants can be used to purchase a new technology for the business.

The process begins with a Business Link Business Support Adviser talking through your business needs. If your company looks likely to qualify for a BTG, the Business Support Adviser will carry out an in-depth diagnostic which will result in the development of an agreed action plan with the business.

Appropriate elements of the action plan can generally be funded by the BTG portions on a 50/50 basis with the company paying at least half of the total.  The grant can provide the remainder (up to a maximum value of £10,000) of combined revenue and capital costs.

Resource Efficiency Diagnostic
As part of the grant scheme businesses will be provided with a Resource Efficiency Diagnostic.

East Midlands’ businesses spend £1 billion on energy per year and more than £400 million on waste disposal – figures that are set to increase over coming years. 

By taking simple steps to reduce the impact on the environment, firms can greatly reduce this expenditure – helping to focus their finances on areas that will really improve their productivity and performance.  
 
Specially trained advisers will be on hand to identify resource inefficiencies quickly and easily using a unique diagnostic tool.  They will then visit the company to assess the situation and highlight the main areas for improvement before drawing up a headline action plan.

Even if you are not looking for a Business Transformation Grant, a Resource Efficiency Diagnostic can be a valuable tool for improving your bottom line. Small businesses will be able to identify resource efficiency issues and get tailored help and advice from just one call.

For more information on these or other initiatives available to boost your business, contact the Business Link Regional Client Contact Centre on 0845 058 6644 email info@businesslinkem.co.uk or access the website www.businesslink.gov.uk/eastmidlands.

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