The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) hosted the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (SLEP) for a Business Support Event at Newclose Cricket Ground last week.
Over 50 people attended in order to hear presentations from a variety of keynote speakers including Cllr Julie Jones-Evans, FSB IW Lead; Steve Futter from Solent LEP; Graham Biss from Natural Enterprise; Xavier Baker from the Isle of Wight Distillery and Denise Barlow from the Solent Growth Hub.
There was also an opportunity to take part in break-out sessions with Isle of Wight College; Department for International Trade; Solent Growth Hub; UK Export Finance; University of Portsmouth and FSB.
Following a networking breakfast overlooking the Cricket Ground, delegates heard from the speakers about the many funding and support opportunities that are available for Island businesses, both start up and those looking to grow, including The Solent Growth Fund Small Business Programme with grants from £10,000 to £75,000 being made available. Also of great interest was the Isle of Wight Rural Fund, which is a competitive fund of £450,000 managed by Natural Enterprise on behalf of the Solent LEP.
Xavier Baker then offered a case study of how this grant enabled him to grow his business very quickly, especially the Mermaid Gin, which the funding enabled him to invest in producing a miniature to be sent out for marketing purposes, resulting in the gaining of many new customers, and the creation of more jobs.
Xavier said:
“Our grant has allowed us to move up to a more professional and sustainable level. The quality and longevity of our Spirits will be optimised as our volume production increases, so we can market our spirits further afield and explore export opportunities with confidence.”
Following the presentations, the Q and A session raised various discussion points including the lack of micro funding available which when only small sums are needed to get a business to its next stage, can provide a real challenge. Delegates were then able to talk through their particular business needs during the breakout sessions.
Tristan Griffiths from ItsNomad9.com who arranged for the event to be live streamed on Facebook by Allthingsnetworking.com added:
“’A very well organised and informative event – helping local businesses understand what funding, investment & support is available to them right now.’
Julie Jones-Evans, FSB IW, said:
“This has been a great event, well supported from the IW business community and partners both on and off Island. There is such a strong entrepreneurial spirit here and being able to get business and growth support organisations in the same room is vital in my opinion, opportunity can arise from these conversations.
“The FSB has been a champion of small business for over 40 years and here on the IW we continue to do all we can to make sure that voice is heard far and wide. The backbone of our economy are our small businesses.”
