Half time report on business scheme

M4B LTds Gerry Gregoire and Alex Askew who used Boost to access Growth Support Programme advice

Latest figures show Boost has also led to the creation of an estimated 291 new jobs since January 2016 when the growth hub secured £7.8m of funding to run for a further three years.

In that time 119 new businesses have been established and £3.5m of new economic activity has been generated. Boost is led by the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

A wide range of free and part-funded business support is available through Boost in areas including mentoring, access to finance, innovation, skills and training.

County Councillor Michael Green, cabinet member for economic development, environment and planning, said: “We’re approaching the half way point of the Boost funding period and these latest figures add up to a very positive mid-term report for the business growth hub.

“There have been some tremendous success stories of existing businesses and start-ups launching new products and services and creating new jobs. The cabinet recently committed to providing £1m in match funding to help us to attract funding and continue Boost to the end of December 2021. We’ve already seen a lot of success from Boost and we’re determined to continue this important work.”

Chairman of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Edwin Booth, said: “In 2016, the LEP committed £3.8m funding to Boost for three years because supporting local businesses to grow and succeed is a key part of the LEP’s ambitious, strategic plan to drive economic growth in Lancashire over the next decade.

“It is evident that the business growth hub works to provide the kind of expert advice and support that our local businesses need and these figures show the progress and impact that this service is having in terms of new start-ups, business growth and job creation.”

One Fylde firm which benefitted from Boost was M4B Ltd which M4BLtd provides customer relationship management software to UK-wide customers from its base at jubilee House.