On 19th September at Birmingham City Council three good practices were presented: the Growth Hub, different electronic procurement portals – FinditinBirmingham, Intend, Gov Portal – and General Data Protection Regulations.
The strength of the approach of the Growth Hub is to recognize that a SME has a variety of problems to face, and not only at the initial phases. The Hub itself does not necessarily have all the knowledge that a SME needs but it is able (it tries) to connect the SME to the partners or actors that can give operative help and provide the solutions needed. Very good also the idea of the “Assist Diagnostic Form” that standardizes the way of approaching requests.
The the integrated scale up offer (support from idea to growth) and the development of an effective angel and VC networkwere also valuable ideas for the visitors.
The session about Access to Finance was also interesting indeed as the description about the support available at the GBSLEP Growth Hub and the adopted KPI'swas very exhaustive.