East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) delivered a multi-faceted £4.6m UKSPF funded Accelerator project from July 2023 to March 2025 across three cities and three counties. Following a competitive, complex bidding process, the Chamber was contracted by 15 city, borough and district councils to deliver a comprehensive programme of support, which included:

• Supporting new entrepreneurs to create a brand-new enterprise.
• Helping microbusinesses and SMEs grow and thrive.
• Supporting businesses with high growth and scale up potential unlock barriers to growth.
• Helping businesses with their international trade ambitions and unlocking new overseas markets (in many cases for the first time).
• Taking businesses through their journey to net zero and decarbonisation with practical support.
• Supporting businesses with their digital transformation and AI adoption.
• Helping high street businesses recover from the lingering effects of the pandemic, including deploying grants to improve tired shopfronts, practical guidance on embracing the potential of e-commerce and online trading, many for the first time.
• Supporting improvements to productivity.
• Encouraging innovative businesses to optimise the benefit of R&D Tax Credits.
• Supporting businesses to bring new products to market and to diversify (ultimately becoming more resilient in the event of other economic interruption events such as a pandemic).

Notable collaborations included:

• Accelerator was a partnership collaboration project, working with our universities, place-making organisations such as Destination Chesterfield, our Local Visitor Economic Partnership, Visit Peak District & Derbyshire and Erewash Partnership.
• Referrals to national business support programmes (some delivered directly by East Midlands Chamber) including Innovate UK, Made Smarter and Help to Grow, to add value to project beneficiaries.

The Chamber invested £560,000 of its reserves (member funds) to ensure Chamber members could access the right business support at the right time, irrelevant of the fragmentation and inconsistent approach to support by the contracting local authorities.

Over this 21-month project, the Chamber supported 13,617 businesses.

Highlights of key outcomes:

• £9.7m secured in business investment, grants and loans.
• 848 SMEs were supported with innovation and R&D grants.
• 1,101 jobs were created or safeguarded.
• 1,093 businesses created decarbonisation plans (who previously had no journey to net zero progression).
• 2,607 businesses were assisted to increase productivity.
• 196 new exporters were created (many of which then became commercial customers for International Trade services).
• 143 new businesses were created that survived the first year of trading and thrived.
• 400 SMEs adopted new and emerging technologies.

• 107 businesses received financial support to unlock barriers to growth, allowing investment into AI adoption / digital transformation and unlocking new markets, both indigenous and overseas.
• 296 businesses engaged with knowledge transfer activities that had not previously engaged with universities for support.

This project created employment for 58 Chamber team members (both new and retained), swelling the Chamber’s capacity and expertise significantly, providing greater scope for the Chamber to support members, customers and the wider business community on an intensive basis during the crisis in the cost of doing business.

Accelerator contributed to member recruitment, retention and engagement by referring 269 referrals to membership, directly recruiting 66 new members and retaining a further 81 members (who had given notice to resign due to the economic climate).

Impact on the local community can best be described by the businesses themselves:

• Blind Screen Ltd, Blind Manufacturer, Derby “The support received from Accelerator has been instrumental in the success of our worldwide expansion. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without it.” Paul Cheetham, Marketing Director
• Ellenvale Interiors, Soft Furnishings Retailer, Chesterfield “Support on introducing new software will help us streamline our processes, with more efficient order and dispatch turnaround times. Having this system in place has also led to a new role and is supporting our growth step change to work with well-known high street retailers and wholesalers.” Annie Johnson, Founder

• Wonderpack.eco, Logistics, Ashfield “With the support of East Midlands Chamber, we’re not only scaling faster but doing so in a way that’s aligned with our values: putting people first and reducing our environmental impact at every turn.” David Ramirez, CEO
• Frances Alexandra Jewellery, Manufacturing, Newark & Sherwood “The tangible results I’ve experienced, including increased bookings and positive feedback, attest to the effectiveness of the Chamber’s personalised business advisory services.” Alex Parkinson, Owner
• Abigail Warner Ltd, Luxury Paper Goods Manufacturer, Derby “Accelerator support has provided us with the expertise and resources needed to overcome our challenges and achieve our growth objectives. We are now more competitive, efficient, and well-positioned for future success”. Abigail Warner, Owner
• Finney’s Wood Finishes (Trader/ Retailer in Wood Finishing, Chesterfield “We felt worried, concerned, and directionless but now we’re inspired, energised, and empowered to learn new skills. We now think differently about the business – we feel positive and full of hope for the future.” Sue Finney, Co-Owner, Finney’s Wood Finishes
• NOJO, Food Manufacturer, Derby “Having the opportunity to refine our website with expert support has allowed us to create a strong digital presence that reflects our brand and drives growth. The investment in our online experience will continue to benefit our customers and business long term.” Simone Deifta,

• Founder
• Kings Office Supplies, Office Supplies, South Derbyshire “I am really excited to be able to work 1-to-1 with an adviser to help build our strategy and increase sales turnover. I am also delighted to have the confidence to be able to offer two new job roles.” Laverne King, Managing Director

To view the range of Accelerator Case Studies:

• Skin-Solace
• Abigail-Warner-Ltd
• Ellenvale-Interiors
• Luke-Evans-Bakery
• Pink-Aubergine-Branded-Bakes
• Plantlicious