Pendle celebrates Enterprising Britain award!

Outstanding innovation and ambition shown by Pendle Council and Pendle Vision has led to an Enterprising Britain award.

Together they’ve helped to create the business environment, skills and confidence needed for small businesses to start and grow. 

Councillor Iqbal, Leader of Pendle Council, said: “Through our Gearing up for Growth programme we have a fantastic track record of helping new businesses to start-up and grow and I’m delighted that our hard work has been recognised.

“We’re unique locally in providing specific start-up grant support and we’ve recently improved our package to include three hours of free business advice.

“This support means that our new businesses have excellent survival rates of around 85%, even after three years of trading.

“This is testament to the hard work of staff at the Council who work closely with our businesses to help them thrive.”

Pendle Council and Pendle Vision jointly developed the Gearing up for Growth programme which received a Judges Highly Commended Award.

Dennis Mendoros, Chairman of Pendle Vision Board which speaks up for the private sector and promotes the borough as a great place to live, work and play, added: “We have some challenges in Pendle including being 41st most deprived area on the Index of Deprivation.

“That’s why we need to encourage new businesses to start and grow, nurture existing ones to become more innovative and attract inward investment.

“As well as offering a bespoke range of support, our Gearing up for Growth programme aims to raise the aspirations of young people and help them get into work.

“By working closely with our business community we can ensure that our programme meets their needs and provide a skilled workforce.”

In just two years the Gearing up for Growth programme has helped 121 businesses start up or expand and has created or safeguarded 473 local jobs!

The awards celebrate the wide range of activity across the country that stimulates and supports enterprise.

This year there was a strong field of entries giving the judges a challenging task in deciding the winners.

Small Business Minister Anna Soubry said: “I want to congratulate all the winners of this year's competition for promoting enterprise across the country.

“We have a record number of small businesses in the UK and the government will continue to back entrepreneurs by giving out more start up loans and making sure they can find the right kind of advice and support.

“I want to see more people across the country growing their ideas into real businesses that create jobs and boost our growing economy."

For more information about grants and support available, contact the Council’s Business Support team  by e-mail at [email protected] or call (01282) 661677.