More than 100 small businesses across Wiltshire have received grants for expert advice to help their enterprises grow under a new scheme.
Some 112 Specialist Business Advice grants of between £500 and £1,500 were paid to a wide range of small businesses.
The most popular requests were for specialist web development support, brand enhancement and business development/sales support.
The grants were paid by The Enterprise Network (TEN) Swindon and Wiltshire and funded through the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Rural Growth Network. The total grant pot of £150,000 has now been spent.
Chris Simpson from Wiltshire Business Support Service, which managed the SBA grant on behalf of The Enterprise Network, said: “The TEN Specialist Business Advice grant proved the perfect way to help small businesses bring forward that small, but vital, project that they might have been putting off.”
Among the recipients is former Royal Engineer Stuart Pearce from Corsham, who launched SMARTech Energy in June.
He and his team help businesses understand how much energy they are wasting and then develop cost-effective ways to help them cut their energy consumption, carbon footprint and to become more sustainable.
Businesses can achieve between 30-50% reductions in their total energy consumption by using SMARTech Energy’s services.
But Stuart knew how important it was to ensure his business had the right impact on potential customers – so he needed to invest in a quality logo, branding and on-line marketing support.
With a £1,500 SBA grant and the support of Wiltshire Business Support Service business adviser Debbie Neale, Stuart was able to afford the best professional advice.
He said: “It is quite a crowded market, so it was essential that SMARTech energy stood out.
“The grant was brilliant as we were able to do so much more and to a much higher standard than we would have been able to afford at that stage of the business.”
Now business is booming with Stuart taking on a full-time project manager, electrician, plus two additional full time jobs and some part time roles to aid in the installation of energy efficient solutions.
He added: “It was important to find suppliers who we felt comfortable with and could work with over time. It was refreshing to receive a recommendation from Debbie rather than having to take pot luck finding a good support partner.”
The firm also benefited from working with Mark Crone of Chippenham-based Clearwater Traditional Marketing to develop its brand and ongoing marketing needs.
