Chamber secures new funding to boost job creation

Feb. 9, 2011 - PRLog -- St Helens Chamber has successfully bid for funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support over 300 local businesses towards successful expansion, creating around 100 new private sector job opportunities.

£382,935 of ERDF funding has been secured as part funding towards a new £765,870 business programme that will run until March 2012.

The programme will be delivered by the Chamber via their team of Business Advocates, who will work alongside local businesses to remove external barriers affecting growth and help improve productivity, with the intention of creating at least 100 new jobs and safeguarding a further 250.

The programme will support businesses to improve their competitiveness, create job opportunities and then link them to unemployed people.

The project will help businesses identify, and then remove, barriers to increased employment, working with a team of Business Advocates employed by St Helens Chamber.  It will help them to improve their recruitment and employment practices, ensuring they understand how to widen their recruitment field. As jobs are created, they will be linked to Jobcentre Plus and Starting Point (the employment information and advice centre for St Helens) who will help unemployed people into these jobs.

The programme, called Improving Employment Practices to Create Jobs, will focus on supporting over 300 local, small to medium sized businesses to grow and improve their competitiveness, with a specific focus on getting the most from businesses’ most important resource – people. The focus of the project will be on skills development, improving recruitment and employment practices and increasing productivity.

All the Business Advocates have a wealth of experience in running businesses as well as a wide range of expertise in fields such as business planning, managing recruitment, workforce development, health & safety and marketing.

Kath Boullen, Chief Executive at St Helens Chamber, said: “We are delighted to have secured these new funds which will allow us to deliver an important business support service in St Helens. More importantly it will allow us to continue to work with local businesses and help boost their performance and productivity in a time where economic recovery is extremely fragile and dependent on the success of the private sector.”

David Malpass, Head of the European Programme, said: "The project will provide practical support to small and medium sized businesses in St Helens in describing and designing jobs to make them accessible to unemployed people. It will establish a link which will give businesses access to a wider range of people and give unemployed people greater opportunities.

"The majority of job opportunities will come from the established businesses in St Helens. Businesses established more than three years ago and with a current workforce of 5 – 100 will be the prime target, although larger and smaller SME’s will also be able to access support.

The new business support programme will be delivered in partnership with a number of partner organisations, including Starting Point, St Helens Chamber’s dedicated employment service, St. Helens Council and the National Apprenticeship Service, amongst others.

Ends.


Notes to Editors:


ERDF in the Northwest

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is making a real difference to people and businesses in the Northwest. With €755 million to invest between 2007 and 2013, ERDF is enhancing the competitiveness of the region’s economy by supporting growth in enterprise and employment.

ERDF in the Northwest is managed by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

For further information please visit http://www.erdfnw.co.uk



St Helens Chamber

St Helens Chamber is one of the largest and most successful Chambers in the UK with the highest business involvement rate.  It represents all industry sectors, ranging from sole traders to large corporations and multi-nationals. Chamber Members employ over 60% of the local workforce.

For more information please visit http://www.sthelenschamber.com

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We provide businesses with support to start, grow, survive and succeed, as well as a range of employment and enterprise initiatives for local people.