Recession Beating Help for Small Businesses in Hackney
A Hackney based project called Upturn has been supporting sole traders and SMEs during the recession.
Upturn is a project aiming to support individuals, employers and businesses based in London who have been affected by the recession.
For some SMEs getting the support they need and renting office space can be overwhelming and expensive, especially during the economic downturn. Fortunately the Upturn project has been able to assist and subsidise some of the costs of running a small business through Accelerator, London Metropolitan University’s specialist business incubator in Shoreditch.
Accelerator has been able to provide a free virtual incubation package, which includes access to the building’s meeting rooms and support once a week from Business Advisers. Businesses are given access to marketing, finance, strategic and legal assistance and on joining are offered an initial IT audit, from one of the successful fellow incubated businesses. Applicants are also offered the opportunity to undertake subsidised courses and training to further enhance their skills.
An additional offering of the package is that Accelerator can register the businesses at the sought after City fringe address, providing businesses with a London phone number, whilst allowing them to work from different locations. The incubator’s combined community of businesses and like-minded individuals cultivates an innovative and entrepreneurial environment and the package offers businesses the opportunity to attend networking events to increase their contacts and business links. Incubators also offer added value when located within Universities, as they are able to access academic expertise.
The Upturn project is supporting individuals, employers and businesses based in London, who have been affected by the recession. So far the virtual incubation package has been given to ten businesses and has prevented at least two of these companies from bankruptcy. The partnership consists of the London boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets and the boroughs’ respective further education colleges, as well as London Metropolitan University, London First, the City of London Corporation and the London Development Agency.
For more information please visit www.upturnonline.co.uk or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Alternatively, you can phone 020 7320 1383 to find out how Upturn can help you.
February 10 2010
