Want to move your business to the Digital Age? Discover how the Digital Growth Programme can help you
The Digital Growth Programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) providing dedicated support to enterprises located in Leicester and Leicestershire. It aims to support growing businesses to explore and introduce new and emerging ICT products and services into their business to improve competitiveness and productivity.
From 2016 to the end of June 2019, £5.2m will have been invested in Leicester and Leicestershire project. 1,044 Leicester and Leicestershire businesses accessed more than 23,000 hours of free digital support and 112 businesses were awarded £1.2m of grant funding helping them to introduce new technology.
The programme is set to continue, with a further £5m being invested into the programme extending the support it provides to SMEs to the end of March 2022. The programme is open to eligible enterprises who are registered to the programme, with an expectation that they will receive a minimum of 12 hours of support. To access the support SMEs are required to follow the online registration. Registration is quick and easy and you only need to go through this process once. Check if you qualify here. Eligible businesses can access:
- Awareness-raising seminars
- Strategic action-planning workshops
- Conferences
- Business advice
- Grant funding (subject to conditions)
Take a look at our showreel or visit our case study pages to learn about the successes of the programme.
Workshops
The programme delivers full-day action-planning workshops covering a range of topics from social media and website planning to cyber resilience and cloud computing.
Delivered by industry experts, workshops are structured to provide businesses with the latest digital knowledge and techniques. Each session allows you to consider strategic objectives and draw up a plan of action to develop and grow your business.
Workshop themes include:
- Website planning and development
- Online marketing
- Email marketing, CRM and Big Data
- Social media
- Ecommerce including International marketing
- Mobile marketing and productivity
- Paid digital advertising
- Video production and marketing
- Cloud computing and cyber resilience
Access to Finance
Technology Grants from £2,000 to £25,000 are available, subject to conditions. The aim of the grant is to support businesses to utilise their existing technology solutions to full potential or assist in the introduction of new systems and software. All grants must be 65% match-funded by the business and details of the application process can be found on the technology grants page.
Digital Business Advisers
To further support your business, the dedicated Digital Business Advisers provide support and advice in your development and growth. They will work closely with you to gain a better understanding of your business and the breadth of technology that exists in your current structure and help develop a plan to move forward. They can also support and assist you with the grant funding process.
Leicester and Leicestershire Digital Growth Programme targets
The programme runs until March 2022 and is contracted to deliver the following results:
- 1188 enterprises receiving at least 12 hours of support including 82 new businesses supported
- 12 enterprises taking up broadband with speeds of at least 30 Mbps
- 181 enterprises supported to introduce new to the firm products or processes
Register today to take advantage of the Digital Growth Programme!