County Durham creatives encouraged to take on latest SME support scheme

Creative businesses across County Durham are being offered professional support.

Durham Creatives is a scheme that is said to feature workshops, mentoring, coaching, creative retreats and artist talks for small to medium-sized companies (SMEs) of fewer than 250 people in the county.

Managed by Durham Business Opportunities Programme (DBOP), part of business support organisation, Business Durham, the scheme will provide support to around 50 companies.

People into Enterprise Ltd has been commissioned to deliver support which is available to companies in County Durham which have digital, design, arts, crafts and writing skills.

Companies that take advantage of the programme can expect to receive 12 hours of support, worth an estimated £600. The scheme will run until July 2019.

Sarah Slaven, business development director at Business Durham which manages the scheme, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for creative companies to benefit from professional advice and support.

“I encourage creative SMEs to take advantage of the scheme. That’s companies with digital skills, design, arts, crafts and writing at their core.”

Durham Creatives features a series of free ‘Thrive and Grow’ workshops that are designed to help companies identify aspirations, create strategies and locate opportunities.

The workshops will be held at Hotel Indigo in Durham City Centre, as well as at The Bowes Museum.

Sessions will include use of diagnostic tools and business growth models, identification of market trends and opportunities, funding information and examples of innovation.

Attendees will also be introduced to the Durham County Council Arts Team.

DBOP is a three-year programme for SMEs, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by Business Durham.