A County wide partnership to get more money and support to businesses needing help during and after the pandemic has invested over £304,000 in the East Staffordshire Borough.
The Staffordshire Means Back to Business scheme was set up by Staffordshire County Council to help small businesses to get more financial and practical help at the start of the pandemic, finishing in March 2022.
Now an additional £3.4m has been invested countywide into almost 1,000 businesses, with businesses across East Staffordshire benefiting from £304,000 from the Borough and County Councils.
As part of this, over 150 employees have been upskilled, 18 new apprentices have been recruited, eight business have received survival and growth funding and £25,000 in interest free start-up loans has been invested.
Thanks to the success of the unique partnership, those interested in starting up their own business can now take advantage of fully-funded business planning and marketing advice through the UK Government- funded Get Started scheme.
James Weeks, owner of The Dial in Burton upon Trent, celebrates the restaurant’s 20 year anniversary, putting this success down to hard work and a commitment to local talent.
“We’re committed to keeping and developing talent at our restaurant. We have over 150 years of Dial chef experience alone and pride ourselves in the very best quality of fresh food.
For us, continuing this legacy and training up the very best apprentices goes hand in hand. That’s why we kept our brilliant Kickstarter Thomas Garner on as an apprentice. We see a great future for him.
The grant from the Staffordshire Means Back to Business scheme helped to contribute to supporting Thomas financially, but also on the training that he needed.
Now there’s no reason why he can’t continue training and going up the ranks, and have a very successful career in the restaurant industry.’’
Cllr Philip White, Staffordshire County Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for economy and skills, said: “The Dial is going from strength to strength with apprentices a central part of their growth strategy.
While it has been important to help businesses struggling as part of the Staffordshire Means Back to Business scheme, it’s also been critical to recognise that the pandemic changed how we work, with many people needing to take learn skills. Young people haven’t had as many opportunities to access the world of work, especially during the pandemic. Together with our council partners, we’re proud to have directly supported helped nearly a thousand businesses and nearly 4,000 individuals to survive and grow.”
Cllr George Allen, leader of East Staffordshire Borough Council, said:
“Small businesses are the stalwart of our economy, and through this scheme we’ve been able to help more businesses with more funding and more support, quicker, and that’s made an incredible difference to many people.
Alongside this, the Borough Council was able to allocate a further £100,000 to its Business Springboard Boost grant scheme, which has now been extended with a further £100,000 for 2022/23 and is currently open to people looking to set up or businesses looking to grow.”
Although all funding has now been allocated to businesses from the Staffordshire Means Back to Business scheme, the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub on 0300 111 8002 have dedicated business advisors on hand to support and signpost businesses to current funding and professional support. Any business less than two years old can apply for an interest free start-up loan of up to £5,000, with more information. Anyone thinking of starting up their own business can get fully-funded bespoke advice, marketing and accountancy support from the county council’s Get Started scheme https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Business/Staffordshire-means-Back-to-Business-Support-Scheme/homepage.aspx