Business Hothouse

The Business Hothouse was a £10.9million business support programme run by the University of Chichester Business School. It ran from January 2020 through to April 2023 and was funded by the ERDF and by district councils within the coast-to-capital area.

It provided both business knowledge support and business grant funding to businesses located within that area. Its free support was available to any sole trader, business owner, freelancer or pre-start entrepreneur in the coast-to-capital area.

The Business Hothouse programme was launched with the aim of creating:

1. Increased entrepreneurship particularly amongst under-represented groups and within areas with low levels of enterprise activity
2. An increased growth capacity in SMEs.

The programme was highly successful and among its many achievements it delivered:

• Support to 625 enterprises
• Awarded Invest4 business grants – totalling £2.65million – to 168 enterprises
• 58 new jobs
• Business knowledge support to 496 pre-start entrepreneurs, enabling them to become enterprise-ready
• Assisted 64 enterprises to bring introduce new-to-firm products
• Diagnostics and brokerage support to 97 enterprises.

You can view the final summative assessment report, which provides full details of the programme’s outputs, in the documents below.

District and County Councils continue to offer free business support to businesses and entrepreneurs who are located within their respective areas. Local Chambers of Commerce also offer support and a business network for a small membership fee.