2/10/2009 - Business start up support for Cumbria : Cumbria County Council

A new initiative has been launched providing support for people starting their own businesses in Cumbria.

The Cumbria Intensive Startup Support Programme (ISUS) is forecast to be worth over £2 million in business support over the next five years and will run until March 2014.

The initiative is part of the Northwest ISUS programme announced by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) in January. ISUS is part of Solutions for Business, the Government’s package of publicly funded business support designed to help companies start and grow.

Cumbria County Council has been awarded the three-year contract to manage the scheme on behalf of the county’s Borough and District Councils and West Lakes Renaissance*.

The scheme is targeted with creating 332 new businesses and over 500 new jobs in its first year, with the provision of over £700k of support, £436k of which is being provided by the NWDA and the additional funds by the Borough and District Councils and West Lakes Rennaissance.

People accessing the scheme will benefit from free advice and assistance in starting their own businesses, support from six months before they start trading and up to three years after the business is up and running.

The programme is focussed on advisors, coaches and mentors who will provide intensive start-up support to disadvantaged groups/areas through personalised support and there will be a range of informative workshops to help entrepreneurs understand and learn about the sorts of issues that can be encountered when starting your own business.

Councillor Tony Markley, Cumbria County Council cabinet member for economic development said: "This scheme will help remove many of the obstacles encountered by people pursuing business ideas and that’s good news for Cumbria.

"The scheme aims to create more than 300 new businesses in the first year alone and that’s going to have a big impact on job prospects in this county."

The ISUS programme can be accessed through Business Link Northwest, the region’s business support gateway. Specialist advisers will provide a comprehensive package of support, advice and training for start-ups and young businesses.

The funding for the programme includes £26.6m from the NWDA and £8.4m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Local authorities will also add to the programme in each sub region.

Mark Hughes, Executive Director of Economic Development for the NWDA said:

"The Intensive Start Up programme aims to encourage and support people with a business idea to gain the necessary expertise to put that idea into practice. We are listening to the established businesses in the region and responding to their needs with a package of business support measures but it is also vital for our future growth that we continue to help and encourage business start ups. This programme aims to encourage and support people with a business idea to gain the necessary expertise to put it into practice."

In Cumbria the programme will be delivered in six localities, covering the local authority areas aimed at ensuring that the county-wide contract is able to deliver specific local needs and can be accessed through Business Link Northwest. The following agencies will be administering the scheme at the local authority level.

Allerdale - Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency Consortium, with specialist social enterprise support through Co-operative Mutual Solutions.

Barrow-in-Furness - Furness Enterprise

Carlisle - Cumbria Chamber of Commerce

Copeland - Cumbria Chamber of Commerce

Eden - Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency

South Lakeland - Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency

The support on offer will be prioritised based on locality and the needs of the individual. Business Link Northwest will provide further guidance regarding eligibility.