People starting or growing a business in the Tees Valley can get a day of practical, fully funded support at a series of workshops taking place across the area in September.
The programme begins in Stockton-on-Tees on Thursday 3 September with Get Funding Ready and Access the Finance Your Business Needs at Stockton-on-Tees Employment and Training Hub. The session is designed to help businesses understand different finance options, make stronger funding applications and work out what investors or lenders are likely to need from them.
Three further workshops focus on getting a new business off the ground. Start Up in Tees Valley visits The BIS in Hartlepool on Wednesday 9 September, Redcar & Cleveland Civic Centre on Friday 11 September and Innovation Central in Darlington on Tuesday 22 September. Each runs from 9.30am to 4pm.
Rather than a general networking event, the sessions are intended to give people practical help with the decisions that come with starting and developing a business. says the wider workshop programme has been created to help firms start, grow and thrive, alongside its Business Support and Funding Directory.
The regional approach matters because useful business support can be difficult to find when it is scattered across different schemes, websites and organisations. Taking sessions into individual boroughs gives founders and smaller firms a chance to get face-to-face help without having to travel far across the region.
Places are free, although advance booking is required. Current dates and booking information are available through Business Tees Valley's events programme.