Chamber secures almost £9m to deliver business support

East Midlands Chamber has been awarded almost £9 million to deliver a new generation of business support to companies across the region.

The chamber of commerce for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire has secured £8.9 million of public funding until March 2025 to deliver its Accelerator project.

Designed to provide one seamless point of entry for relevant business support, Accelerator comprises key activities under the strands of net zero, innovation, digital and finance.

Its aim is to help companies at all stages of their development to start, sustain, grow and innovate.

Diane Beresford, deputy chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “The East Midlands Chamber Accelerator programme has been carefully designed to provide businesses across the district with the right support, at the right time.

“At the heart of the project is a team of locally-based advisers and specialists, employed by the chamber, who will offer high-intensity support to businesses seeking to grow, create new jobs or exploit technology to improve performance.”

The East Midlands Chamber Accelerator project brings together a number of publicly-funded contracts, including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), a key part of the Government’s levelling up agenda to enhance communities, businesses and skills; Innovate UK EDGE, which helps innovative SMEs to grow and achieve scale; and Made Smarter East Midlands, which assists manufacturers in switching to advanced and automated technologies.

Accelerator aims to help firms develop technologies, improve productivity and safeguard and create jobs.

It will help companies adopt new digital technologies and processes, engage in new markets, introduce new products and services and increase revenue.

And it will also look to help firms progress on their journey to net zero, building on the success of the Sustainable East Midlands campaign to deliver events, workshops, and the opportunity for an energy-saving and improvement opportunities audit.

As part of Accelerator, firms will receive dedicated business adviser support.

Diane said: “Working with an adviser or specialist will be a key ingredient for businesses interested in taking advantage of Accelerator support and a diagnostics report will show them where best to point their energies.”

While the Accelerator programme is open to participation from all sectors, there is recognition that manufacturing, visitor economy, retail and services businesses are critically important sectors that warrant targeted support.

Businesses interested in benefitting from this next generation of business support are invited to contact the chamber’s Information team on 0333 320 0333 or e-mail info@emc-dnl.co.uk.

A number of upcoming events have been organised as part of the Accelerator programme. A full list of these events can be found here https://www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk/events/ .