Grant awareness event for businesses in Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre

Businesses in the Blackpool area are being invited to a special event to find out how to access more than £16m of capital grants now available to ambitious companies.

The Finance for Business Growth seminar, run by Blackpool Council and Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, aims to promote awareness of different kinds of finance available to help businesses grow and take on more staff, and will take place at the New Blackpool Enterprise Centre on Tuesday, September 17.

Cllr Fred Jackson, cabinet member for urban regeneration at Blackpool Council, said: “This is a tremendous opportunity to tap into a range of capital grants exclusively available to Lancashire companies, as well as understand other forms of finance generally not available via banks.

“If businesses are looking to invest and create jobs it can often be a cocktail of funding to enable an investment to happen, and this seminar will help businesses understand options available to them.”

The event will highlight a range of grants from £5,000 to £1m funded by the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), and allocated by economic development company Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, who will co-present alongside the Access To Finance team. The RGF funding includes the Fuse Fund, a £4m enterprise programme designed to support new businesses trading less than 3 years, which is run in partnership with Lancashire Business View.

Cllr Jackson added: “We are also taking the opportunity to launch the Council’s own Investment Fund which will add value to the funding options available to local firms, providing loan and grant assistance up £150,000.”

“This Council is committed to promoting responsible entrepreneurship and I’m delighted that this fund will continue to help local businesses to grow.” The Finance for Business Growth event is run as part of Boost Business Lancashire, the county’s new £7.2m growth hub supported by the European Regional Development Fund.