Ashford Borough Council supports businesses with two innovative programmes
Published: 03/08/2023
As part of Ashford Borough Council’s continued commitment to developing the economic prosperity of the borough, we are working with Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce (KICC) to roll out two exciting programmes to support businesses and enable them to grow further.
Scale Up Ashford and Growth Entrepreneur Ashford are both expert-driven growth and expansion schemes to help businesses to fulfil their full potential and explore new ideas and concepts that they need might need further guidance or help to drive forward.
Scale Up Ashford is aimed at supporting businesses who have been trading for at least three years by providing them with the advice and tools to move to the next stage. Ten businesses will be entered onto the programme and be assigned a Business Coach who will work through their objectives and develop a plan to support their growth. Businesses will work with their Coach to address any barriers, explore opportunities and develop new ideas. To be considered for the programme, the business must be located in Ashford, employ five or more staff members and have the capacity and ambition to grow.
Growth Entrepreneur Ashford is more focused on businesses in their infancy, within their first two years of trading, and how they can rapidly grow. It is a one-to-one programme of support looking at the proposed business plan and how areas such as staff, budgeting and sales can be addressed. This will be done through a series of one-to-one sessions with the businesses’ assigned advisor and group workshops with the other participants so that everyone can learn from each other and create a strong business network. Five businesses will be part of the initial recruitment process. To be considered for the programme, the business must have a trading address in Ashford, employ at least one person and have a loan or equity capital of at least £10K.
Both programmes provide businesses with consultancy support, access to business growth tools and access to local expertise. If you are interested in learning more about either of these programmes or putting your business forward to be considered for one of the schemes, then please follow the links below.
