New scale-up support programme offers local companies the chance to grow

Richard Perkins, Business Growth Hub’s Rochdale adviser

Spark2Scale, a support programme created by The Business Growth Hub, is looking for more ambitious companies in the borough of Rochdale to take part in a business growth scheme.

The programme, which is free to qualifying companies, is tailored specifically for aspiring ‘scale-ups’.

Scale-ups are usually characterised as SMEs which have enjoyed 20% growth year-on-year for several years, or have the clear potential to grow at a similar rate over the next few years.

Utilising collaborative masterclasses, personal mentoring, peer-to-peer problem solving and bespoke business support from specialist Hub advisers, the Spark2Scale programme aims to tackle the barriers faced by scale-ups in areas like the Rochdale area that are keen to grow, but which often lack the experience or confidence to take their business forward.

Following the success of the first cohort, who enrolled on the inaugural Spark2Scale programme in April, more firms in Rochdale Borough are now being encouraged to apply for the second wave of workshops and masterclasses which will start in June, and will be hosted at the Chambers Business Centre in Oldham.

Richard Perkins, Business Growth Hub’s Rochdale adviser, who is based in the town, said: “I know from personal experience of working in and around the borough that there are lots of fantastic businesses, across all kinds of industries and sectors, which have huge potential but also face obstacles to growth.

“The Spark2Scale programme is specifically designed to address these issues, and it aims to instil a positive, ambitious, and confident scale-up mindset in those companies which participate.

“Scale-ups can also help to drive innovation and create jobs in places like Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood, so I’m very keen that local firms with the potential to succeed take advantage of this fantastic, fully-funded Business Growth Hub programme which has already been proven to be very popular with all kinds of businesses across Greater Manchester.”

For full details, or to register, visit:

http://www.businessgrowthhub.com/spark2scale