COLLABORATION 4 GROWTH: THE END OF AN ERA

Since 2016, Lincoln Business Improvement Group (BIG) has worked in partnership with Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce to provide Collaboration 4 Growth (C4G), a project involving providing business support to new and existing SMEs who trade on a business to business (B2B) basis. However, C4G came to an end on 30th June 2023.

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), we are delighted to have been able to support 354 SME’s in Lincoln and surrounding areas. Charlotte Watson, Deputy Chief Executive at Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce commented:

“The C4G project has been an invaluable opportunity to support business growth for SME’s in West Lindsey, North Kesteven and the City of Lincoln. The variety of business support, free workshops and grants provided have proved a successful and required tool to help local start-ups and SME’s take the next step and grow.”

A huge part of C4G was the revenue and capital grants available for micro, small and medium businesses. We are delighted to have awarded 123 businesses with £605,130.57 in grant money, providing 60% of the total cost of staffing, equipment, and support. A grant beneficiary from Electric Egg Ltd stated “It successfully created logistical, financial, and creative benefits for us.”

Alongside the grants, C4G provided 242 businesses with 12 hours of support, this involved free business advice on a one-to-one basis, or in the form of workshops and /networking opportunities.

A workshop attendee from Five Rounds More commented ““It has provided a basic understanding which I’ve been able to use to go forward and learn more from, as a steppingstone to developing a better marketing and social media interaction for my customers.”

Workshops covered a variety of topics ranging from Social Media 101, Photography, Paid Advertising, Media Communication & Awareness, Presenting with Excellence and much more!

The project aimed to create new opportunities for SME’s and successfully created 68 new job roles and 13 new enterprises.

Yvette Mills, Lincoln BIG’s Project Manager, stated “I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the project and have made a lot of new connections from a wide variety of businesses through hosting workshops, conferences and networking events.

It has been a lot of fun and very rewarding supporting the businesses both through the grant scheme and also through workshops.”

Through the C4G scheme, Lincoln BIG and Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce also organised a ‘Let’s Talk Business Growth’ Conference, with high-profile keynote speaker, Ollie Ollerton, a former UK Special Forces Soldier and Directing Staff from Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins. The event saw multiple short, informative seminars on Sustainability, Leadership, and Investment, with valuable networking opportunities.

Looking forward, both Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce and Lincoln BIG look for other opportunities and projects available to support businesses and help them grow.