Business support

Grow your business and become more resilient

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has presented many businesses with difficult challenges. But the pandemic has also sparked many businesses to adapt and evolve to operate and survive. We offer advice and mentoring to become more resilient and embrace new innovative ideas.

If you have been trading for at least six months and run a small business with less than 50 staff, a social enterprise or co-operative, we can offer support in these areas:

• business growth and sustainability
• high growth
• tendering skills
• digital skills

You’ll benefit from:

• flexible, one-to-one specialist mentoring with an experienced business advisor who will review your business and help you implement a plan for growth
• workshops and networking events to help you build on the learning from your mentoring sessions (online during COVID-19)
• an opportunity to attend group mentoring sessions with like-minded business owners (online during COVID-19). Some in-person workshops will take place from March 2022

Our mentors can support you in areas including:

• business planning, improvement and efficiency
• digital technology including advice on website development, paid advertising and customer relationship management export development
• market intelligence and analysis of emerging market opportunities
• marketing and social media
• people and human resource management, including hiring new staff
• product or process development and commercialisation
• sales development
• securing finance and financial planning
• strategic management, including change management
• system and process improvement, including use of new IT and software
• tendering support to help you secure new business

How to register

To register, please complete our business registration form and select 'seeking support for my current business'. For more information, contact our Economic Development Unit on 028 9027 0482 or email economicdevelopment@belfastcity.gov.uk

Supporting your environmental sustainability strategy

Is your business interested in environmental sustainability?

We offer free help and support to businesses that want to plan or implement measures to mitigate or limit carbon consumption to help protect our environment.

Register your interest

Funding

This project is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme.