£100k To Support Young Entrepreneurs
27th October 2020
A business support programme aimed at developing the next generation of entrepreneurs is to be extended across the Highlands and Islands.
IMPACT30 is currently operated by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in the Highland Council area, as part of the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal.
Delivered on HIE's behalf by AAB Consulting, it offers bespoke support from industry specialists to people age 35 and under who are in key decision-making roles in young ambitious businesses.
The young business leaders benefit from 12 months of personalised coaching and mentoring, just-in-time training, and collaborative learning with other participants.
HIE has approved a further investment of £100,000 to make the programme accessible to businesses in the Northern and Western Isles, Moray, Argyll and Bute, and North Ayrshire.
The investment will be targeted at helping young people develop commercial and employment opportunities as part of the region's economic recovery.
IMPACT30 forms part of the Northern Innovation Hub, a project led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) with £11m from the UK Government and £1.7m ERDF support as part of the Inverness and Highland City Region Deal.
So far, the programme has run four times in Highland. Forty-nine businesses have taken part, including 19 currently in the programme. The average age of participants is 30 and the average age of their businesses is less than a year.
Extending IMPACT30 across the region is expected to benefit at least another ten businesses over the next year in addition to those in the Highland Council area.
Claire Munro, HIE’s senior project manager for the Northern Innovation Hub, said:"Entrepreneurship is a key driver for successful business development and economic growth. Supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs is essential to future job opportunities, inward investment and community resilience.
"IMPACT30 is about strengthening entrepreneurship to create a more robust and resilient economy, as well as improving business skills and supporting a confident workforce.
“By extending the programme, we’ll be able to build on its success so far and widen the impacts across the whole region. We look forward to welcoming the next cohort for onboarding in January."
Mark Bell, director of economic development at AAB Consulting, said:“IMPACT30 welcomed 19 new businesses in August. It was great to feel how energised they all are about fighting the uncertainty head on. Our immediate task is to help them focus their energy on the things that are most important today, and that they are building their resilience in a way that they can respond to disruptions tomorrow, of which there will be many. Each business benefits from having an individual coach, a network to share and learn from, and other subject matter experts on hand to help with discreet challenges."
The Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal is a joint £315 million initiative supported by both the UK and Scottish governments.
More information about IMPACT30 is available on the HIE website.
https://www.hie.co.uk/support/browse-all-support-services/impact30/
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Shell-volution is an ambitious industry-wide initiative supported by the public sector and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) which has been awarded £4.4 million of investment from the UK Government as part of the Islands Growth Deal. This innovative, ground-breaking project is set to transform shellfish aquaculture, bringing sustainable growth and additional quality jobs in mussel farming, based on detailed investigations (mapping and monitoring) and creating a model for improving security and reliability of wild spat recruitment, through industry best practice.
A Nairn-based foundry, which has achieved international recognition for its larger-than-life bronze castings has invested in a £200,000 expansion to help it reach greater heights. An award of £60,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has helped Black Isle Bronze to improve infrastructure and purchase equipment to extend the range of projects the firm can undertake.
Young businesses and social enterprises in the Highlands and Islands looking to increase productivity, innovation and employment can apply for funding from HIE. The fourth round of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Young Business Capital Grant (YBCG) is now open to businesses that have been trading for less than five years with up to 250 full-time equivalent employees.
Ambitious young businesspeople in the Highlands and Islands have just one more chance to benefit from a tailored support programme. IMPACT30 was launched by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in 2018 to help nurture and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The winners of the Highlands and Islands Food & Drink Awards (HIFAD) 2024 were announced on Friday 1 November at a prestigious ceremony at the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness. Supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the awards celebrate the talent, quality and diversity across food, drink and hospitality in the Highlands and Islands.
A family run engineering fabrication firm in Caithness is investing in a project to improve productivity, grow business turnover and create new jobs. Gow's Lybster Limited has been working with development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) over several years to develop its growth plans.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will return to Norway to host the Scottish Pavilion at Aqua Nor 2025. The Scottish aquaculture supply chain is invited to register their interest to exhibit as part of the pavilion or join the wider Scottish delegation.
A young engineer working on Britain's deepest nuclear clean-up project has been recognised by the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). Liam Gordon (27) won the Young Chemical Engineer of the Year award at the annual showcase event of the Aberdeen branch of IChemE, the professional body for chemical engineers in the UK.
Food and Drink TechHUB will provide financial and advice support to help businesses, including social and community enterprises, with commercial growth and net zero transition activities. Small to medium sized enterprises in the Highland Council area that operate in the food and drink sector and its supply chain are expected to benefit from a new programme of support launched his week.
Businesses and social enterprises in the Highlands and Islands looking to reduce the environmental impacts of their operations can now apply to a new Green Grant Fund launched on Thursday 26 September 2024. The three-year £2.7m fund was developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
