The purpose of the grant funding was to help business in our area mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Businesses were encouraged to propose ways in which the grant would help them adapt, innovate and evolve during the crises.
The team worked tirelessly to support as many businesses as possible and now £1.98 million funding has been allocated to successful applicants.
- In Brighton and Hove, My Pocket Skills were awarded £7,997 towards software and hardware to support online tutoring sessions
- In Worthing, Piglets Pantry were awarded £16,500 to improve their website and integrate software to process orders more quickly
- In East Surrey, Gather No Moss were awarded £20,794 to allow the business to function during lockdown and a restricted environment
The fund is now closed as we have deployed the funding that we had available. We are working on additional funding and business support measures and an Expression of Interest form is available to submit online in the event that future funding becomes available.
Matthew Harker, Director at My Pocket Skills said:
"We are really grateful to the team at Coast to Capital. With help from their amazingly responsive Backing Business fund we have been able to rapidly adapt our business model towards an entirely online service. We are now seeing increasing demand from work-at-home parents needing to work more productively and seeking homework, music and creative help for their children which we provide through our bank of capable students."
Jo Hunter, Chief Food Lover at Piglets Pantry said:
"We are absolutely grateful and delighted to have been awarded this grant, it will help us further develop our business in our online project, delivering direct to Customers; is a brand new area of the business for us. Having lost all of our existing Stadia, Events, Leisure & Tourism business, we literally had to change direction overnight, this funding will enable us to spend money developing a brand new area of the business which will help us to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to say a big thank you to Coast to Capital for helping us to change the future of our business"
Tom Bambridge-Sutton, Director at Gather No Moss said:
"Our designers are setting up the new equipment that the Coast to Capital grant has purchased allowing them to work from anywhere. The post COVID-19 landscape means we need to rely on portable technology like never before. Our area of work is fast paced, you need the right design right now! The new machines keep the team active, reactive and connected. We are already in talks with 3D mapping designers to action new development funded by the Coast to Capital grant. This innovative bit of development should allow us to reach our customers around the world that we can no longer travel to."
To help kick-start the recovery of our economy we are also developing a recovery strategy to help strengthen our understanding of the current economic landscape. Our new Business Recovery Insights Survey aims to build a picture of the challenges and opportunities facing businesses based in the Coast to Capital area by identifying common themes across a range of sectors. The deadline to complete is Friday 24 July.
Keep up to date with the latest Growth Hub news, information and events on Twitter and subscribe to the newsletter. To speak to a Growth Adviser, complete the Request Form online. We look forward to updating you on new support measures in the near future.
Malcolm Brabon,
Head of Services at Coast to Capital
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