Bucks Council allocates £1.6m to four businesses under Levelling Up initiative

Bucks Council has granted £1.6 million to four organisations as part of a Levelling Up project.

Money for the scheme comes from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

Four organisations have been given a share of the significant funding: Enterprise Nation, Buckinghamshire Business First, Maybe Solutions, and Retail Revival.

This project is designed to support high quality skills training, plus pay, employment and productivity growth. It is hoped the selected businesses will grow, increase productivity, and drive innovation, and employment.

The local authority picked its businesses in Bucks by sorting through applications. Applicants were asked to prepare pitches that focused on: rural business support; business growth and productivity; business start-ups and entrepreneurship; and sustainability and the journey to net zero.

Bucks Council has provided a breakdown on where the funding is going:

-Enterprise Nation - £207k for its Next Generation Bucks programme to boost the number of start-ups in the county.

-Buckinghamshire Business First - £509k for its Growth Programme, offering tailored growth advice and support to local businesses.

-Maybe Solutions - £136k for a programme of social media support focusing on high street business growth.

-Retail Revival - £167k for providing tailored support to retail businesses to help increase productivity and growth.

-Buckinghamshire Business First - £506k to work with local businesses to calculate carbon emissions and support with ways to reduce them.

-Buckinghamshire Business First - £69k to provide support to rural businesses in the county.

Bucks Council Leader, Councillor Martin Tett, said: “We are delighted to be able to allocate this funding across a range of business support organisations who will help develop and grow Buckinghamshire businesses and equip our next generation of entrepreneurs. In Buckinghamshire we pride ourselves on being a county where small and medium businesses thrive and this funding helps us to ensure that legacy continues.

“We are particularly keen to see a focus on helping businesses to cut their carbon emissions and adopt practices to be more energy efficient which ties into our council aim to reach net zero before 2050. We are also pleased at the focus on supporting businesses in rural areas.”