News & blog

Introducing the Growth Hub

By Christine Gaskell MBE

Chair, Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership

Cheshire and Warrington is already the best performing economy in the North of England and one of the most successful and fastest growing economies in the country.

That success is because of the region’s natural assets and the talent and hard work of residents, its educational institutions and those working in its public, private and community sector organisations.

It is also down to those people who start, grow and develop businesses, creating jobs, wealth and opportunities for everyone.

So we at the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership are delighted to be launching our new Growth Hub, which is designed to support those businesses in their ambitions for growth.

Prospects for the Cheshire and Warrington economy are already excellent and we believe the recent devolution proposal and existing activity will help us achieve our ambitions to build a £50bn economy by 2040.

At the heart of this growth will be the creation, development and growth of SMEs.

Small businesses currently account for 99.3 per cent of all private sector businesses in the UK, 47.8 per cent of private sector employment and 33.2 per cent of private sector turnover. And small and medium sized businesses employ some 15.2 million people and have a combined turnover of £1.6 trillion.

So it is SMEs which really are the engine-room of the wider UK economy and of our economy here in Cheshire and Warrington.

MORE FOLLOWS

Many great SMEs have been created and nurtured in Cheshire and Warrington –companies such as Better Bathrooms, The Hut, Westgrove and Delamere Dairy. These are examples of acorns that have grown into oaks.

The Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub will assist many more businesses like these and I would like to take this opportunity to urge all businesses to consider how the Growth Hub can help them.

It will be a focus point for Cheshire businesses to support other Cheshire businesses, with grant funding available to pay for that support. It will connect businesses with the right people and organisations to help them realise their ambitions.

And it is a Growth Hub for all kinds of businesses in all sectors, reflecting the diverse range of urban and rural companies which operate in Cheshire and Warrington.

We firmly believe the Growth Hub can play a key role in helping local businesses to prosper, to grow and to continue to make an invaluable contribution to the communities in which they operate.

So get on board now and see how the Growth Hub can turbo-charge your business growth.