Release date: 12 July 2023
Businesses in West Sussex are invited to benefit from new in-person digital growth support that will be touring the county from September. Workshops and mentoring will be provided free to businesses, with the aim of helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase their efficiency, reduce costs and win new customers.
Grow Digital West Sussex is a collection of carefully-curated workshop days, facilitated networking and one-to-one mentoring that will be delivered across West Sussex between September 2023 to April 2024. The programme will provide businesses with expert guidance on improving digital capabilities, give people an opportunity to connect with other business owners and enable them to opt in to one-to-one mentoring.
The workshop days will cover a variety of digital topics for businesses, including social media and digital marketing, online selling and smarter working, so participants can pick the workshops or days that are most relevant for them.
The Grow Digital West Sussex programme is jointly funded by West Sussex County Council and the district and borough councils in the county. It is being delivered by Freedom Works, Wired Sussex, Creative Bloom and Shake It Up Creative, and the content of this programme has been carefully designed, based on insights from the councils’ previous business support programmes.
The councils have previously invested in a pilot programme of digital adoption support for small businesses, Recover and Rise, to test approaches to delivery. The programme was well received, with more than 300 businesses taking part.
West Sussex County Council Leader, Cllr Paul Marshall, said: “This initiative is a great example of us working in partnership with our district and borough council colleagues for the good of the county’s economy. We look forward to seeing businesses across West Sussex learning from experts in their field and benefiting from bespoke one-to-one advice.
“The County Council is committed to the growth of our local economy, and helping our businesses make better use of digital tools is vital to increasing productivity and growth: a sustainable and prosperous economy is one of the priorities in Our Council Plan .”
Businesses based in West Sussex can register their interest now to get a place on the first set of local workshops starting in September: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/business-and-consumers/start-or-grow-your-business/business-west-sussex/business-support/grow-digital-west-sussex/
For more information, please contact business.support@westsussex.gov.uk
