07 October 2009
Business start up support for Cumbria
A new initiative has been launched providing support for people
starting their own businesses in Cumbria.
The Cumbria Intensive Startup Support Programme (ISUS) is
forecast to be worth over £2 million in business support over the
next five years and will run until March 2014.
The initiative is part of the Northwest ISUS programme announced
by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and the Northwest Regional
Development Agency (NWDA) in January. ISUS is part of Solutions for
Business, the Government's package of publicly funded business
support designed to help companies start and grow.
Cumbria County Council has been awarded the three-year contract
to manage the scheme on behalf of the county's Borough and District
Councils and West Lakes Renaissance*.
The scheme is targeted with creating 332 new businesses and over
500 new jobs in its first year, with the provision of over £700k of
support, £436k of which is being provided by the NWDA and the
additional funds by the Borough and District Councils and West
Lakes Rennaissance.
People accessing the scheme will benefit from free advice and
assistance in starting their own businesses, support from six
months before they start trading and up to three years after the
business is up and running.
The programme is focussed on advisors, coaches and mentors who
will provide intensive start-up support to disadvantaged
groups/areas through personalised support and there will be a range
of informative workshops to help entrepreneurs understand and learn
about the sorts of issues that can be encountered when starting
your own business.
Councillor Tony Markley, Cumbria County Council cabinet member
for economic development said: "This scheme will help remove many
of the obstacles encountered by people pursuing business ideas and
that's good news for Cumbria.
"The scheme aims to create more than 300 new businesses in the
first year alone and that's going to have a big impact on job
prospects in this county."
The ISUS programme can be accessed through Business Link
Northwest, the region's business support gateway. Specialist
advisers will provide a comprehensive package of support, advice
and training for start-ups and young businesses.
The funding for the programme includes £26.6m from the NWDA and
£8.4m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Local authorities will also add to the programme in each sub
region.
Mark Hughes, Executive Director of Economic Development for the
NWDA said:
"The Intensive Start Up programme aims to encourage and support
people with a business idea to gain the necessary expertise to put
that idea into practice. We are listening to the established
businesses in the region and responding to their needs with a
package of business support measures but it is also vital for our
future growth that we continue to help and encourage business start
ups. This programme aims to encourage and support people with a
business idea to gain the necessary expertise to put it into
practice."
In Cumbria the programme will be delivered in six localities,
covering the local authority areas aimed at ensuring that the
county-wide contract is able to deliver specific local needs and
can be accessed through Business Link Northwest. The following
agencies will be administering the scheme at the local authority
level.
Allerdale - Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency Consortium, with
specialist social enterprise support through Co-operative Mutual
Solutions.
Barrow-in-Furness - Furness Enterprise
Carlisle - Cumbria Chamber of Commerce
Copeland - Cumbria Chamber of Commerce
Eden - Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency
South Lakeland - Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency
The support on offer will be prioritised based on locality and
the needs of the individual. Business Link Northwest will provide
further guidance regarding eligibility.