Business Development

Specialist programmes and support available to creative organisations.

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Current programmes to help support and grow creative businesses via opportunities, business and skills development.

BOOST

Boost Business Lancashire offers a wide range of leading-edge funded programmes, delivered by specialists with a track record of growing established and innovative start-up businesses. They help businesses to address a growth challenges and opportunities.

Propeller

Propeller offer a complete enterprise support programme providing skills, training, mentoring, workspace and networking to the students, graduates and staff of UCLan. They can help you develop the skills and knowledge needed to start your own business and be more enterprising through interactive workshops, events and activities.

Lancaster University Knowledge Exchange

The Knowledge Exchange Team at Lancaster University work with businesses of all sizes in many ways, including contract and collaborative research, supporting student projects, placements and internships, training, guest lectures and events for businesses. They can help your business transform ideas into new digital products, processes and services, and create new solutions, new strategies, improving business performance and competitiveness.

Centre for SME Development

The Centre for SME Development provides a focal point within UCLan where SMEs can connect, collaborate, network and learn. If you have a small, medium business, a social enterprise, charity or cooperative, then becoming a member is an opportunity to connect you to a vibrant, co-operative and constructive community where everyone benefits.

Lancashire Forum Creative

Lancashire Forum Creative is an innovative leadership and business growth programme that is tailored to meet the learning and development needs of the creative and digital companies. They help small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders develop themselves and their companies.

Edge Hill Innovation Sprint Programme

The Innovation Sprint Programme offers SMEs a unique opportunity to rapidly innovate new solutions on the basis of identifying highly validated market opportunities.

Selnet

Selnet is the lead body in Lancashire for social enterprise and through its membership is able to bring together a wide range of businesses working for the social good to network, form consortia and inter-trade. Selnet delivers a host of business support programmes specifically designed to meet the needs of social enterprises to help them develop and grow.

Bootstrap Enterprises

Bootstrap staff work in partnership with organisations including national providers, local authorities and local third sector community to support, train and assist people into work. Bootstrap can offer an extensive range of work experience opportunities across the region with public, private and third sector organisations.

Lancashire Skills Hub

The Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub is part of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership. They support Lancashire businesses to inspire young people, recruit local people, upskill their staff and influence Lancashire’s skills and employment priorities.

Upskilling Lancashire

This UClan project supports Lancashire based SMEs and micro businesses to increase the skills and capability of their employees, enabling the business to compete regionally, nationally and internationally. The project team assists businesses to identify, design, develop and implement work-force education and training programmes based on the needs of your business.

Made Smarter

The Made Smarter Programme is a pilot scheme designed to boost UK manufacturing productivity and growth across the North West. The programme is designed to support manufacturers, engineers, makers and creators with facilities or operations in Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region to grow through the adoption of new and digital technologies.

Creative & Cultural Skills

Creative & Cultural Skills gives young people opportunities to work and learn in the creative industries. They are an independent charity that provides careers advice and guidance, promotes apprenticeships, and delivers activities for young people through a National Skills Academy network of industry and education supporters.

Innovate UK

A publicly-funded agency offering expert advice and funding support to SMEs to engage in R&D projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering, digital and related-technologies.

Good Creator

Good Creator is a new online professional and commercial development platform for creative practitioners of all disciplines who want to open up new career opportunities, hone their approach and elevate their creative ambitions on their own terms, in their own time, at their own pace. Currently in BETA, the Good Creator platform is piloting a range of online events, courses, webinars, resources and reading recommendations to support artists and creatives with ambition.

Creative Directory

Profiles of our creatives businesses

Heather Hattrick

Illustrator

Yango SEO and Digital Marketing Services

SEO and Digital Marketing For Lancashire Businesses

Through the Looking Glass Studios

Manchester Photography Studio

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