West Sussex County Council

WSCC

West Sussex County Council is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county contains 7 district and borough councils, and 159 town, parish and neighbourhood councils and is home to just under 31,000 businesses.

Entrepreneurship, Productivity and Employment

In 2013 West Sussex County Council introduced its Be the Business programme designed to encourage entrepreneurship, improve productivity and create new jobs to improve the performance of the local economy.

Branduin in partnership with West Sussex County Council helped to unlock the potential of the local economy through the ‘Be the Business’ Programme.

Together with Sussex Chamber of Commerce and the University of Chichester, Branduin was able to increase the levels of entrepreneurship, improve productivity and generate significant employment growth by managing the allocation of £1.2m of grant funding to local businesses from 2013/14. Our services included:

Our services included:

  • 1:1 business advice clinics
  • Peer-to-peer group mentoring
  • ‘Boot camps’ for start-ups
  • Conducting due diligence and appraisals on grant applicants
  • Preparing the shortlist for the grant award panel
  • Mentoring successful grant applicants

The Results

Over the 2 years of the programme the following results were achieved:

  • Net gain of 260 jobs at a cost per job 5 times lower than the ERDF average
  • Net increase in sales revenue of £40m
  • Improved productivity by 90% of participants

“The grant and business support was crucial to us growing the business – we would not have been able to progress at the same rate without it. We have been able to purchase a Van and the necessary tanks and brewing equipment to drive the business forward.”
Listers Brewery