Support and advice
General Business Support
Lancaster City Council's Business Support Hub provides a free one-stop shop service to guide you through the business support available from all of our local, regional and national partners.
We offer a free diagnostic of your business needs and will then create a support pathway to get you to where you want to be, which can be reviewed and adapted where necessary along the way.
Below are some examples of the support available from our partners.
Lancaster & District Chamber of Commerce campaigns on behalf of its members and offers its members a range of business support services and exclusive money saving offers with leading suppliers to help reduce your business costs and support business growth.
The Chamber also offers a comprehensive package of international trade services aimed at helping your company succeed in international markets, including overseas trade advice, export training, export documentation, and much more.
Federation of Small Business - Help & Support for your Business from a not-for-profit organisation with the best interests of its self-employed and small business members at heart.
Lancashire County Council provides a variety of support including training and development, help with recruitment, as well as finance for your business.
Lancashire Libraries holds a wealth of information ranging from local economic data, access to research, skills support and wider business support.
NatWest Business Builder - A digital learning platform designed to help you take your business further, faster. Free training to launch your business. Open to all, including non NatWest customers.
Finance and Funding
Start-Up Support
Self employment and starting a business
What you need to do to set up depends on your type of business, where you work and whether you take on people to help.
GOV.UK has a wealth of information and guidance on setting up a business.
TechRound, aimed at small and micro startups, is a comprehensive resource for anyone considering starting a small business in any sector, including grants and funding, accounting and legal responsibilities as well as industry specific guides.
Delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with The Co-operative Bank, offers up to 6 days bespoke business support, mentoring and training for start‑up co‑ops.
The support is open to groups in the process of starting a co-operative, newly incorporated co-ops and in the early days of trading, and can help you to quickly set up your co-op, develop your business idea and become a sustainable and growing business.
Support for new market traders
Assembly Rooms Emporium (indoor market in Lancaster) - free pitches/studio space for start ups for one month.
The Assembly Rooms Emporium provides the perfect backdrop for those selling antiques and collectables, vintage or alternative goods. The pitches can also be used as studio space for arts and crafters to make, showcase and sell their creations. The offer of one month's free trading must be followed by a minimum of two more month's trading at the regular rate.
Please contact us for availability or to be placed on the waiting list.
Festival Market (covered market in Morecambe) - discounted rates for new traders
Traders bringing a new commodity to the market are eligible for a discounted rental of just £100 per month for the first three months of trading – a fantastic opportunity for new traders to get off to a flying start and benefit from the increase in footfall during spring/summer trading. You need to commit to trading for an additional month (or for three additional months if you sign up between May and July). Commodities must be new or currently absent from the market. For details of commodities not presently available please contact us.
Charter Market (outdoor market in Lancaster) - free Wednesday pitches for new traders*
New traders applying to trade on Lancaster’s popular street market operating on Wednesdays and Saturdays can benefit from the first two Wednesdays at FREE rent (maximum of two days trading per trader). *Offer applies to new traders introducing something different to the market
For more information or to arrange a visit contact the Markets Team on 01524 582504 or email markets@lancaster.gov.uk.
Visit our Finance and Funding page for more information.
Business Premises
If you are looking for premises you can view our online Property Register and find out what council-owned property and land is currently available on this page
Support to reduce your carbon impact
Chamber Low Carbon - well-established energy-efficiency programme that moves businesses from high-carbon fossil-fuel use to low-carbon, net-zero, and eventually zero-carbon working. Through funded business support, workshops and on-site energy auditing and support.
NatWest Carbon Planner - Carbon Planner is free and could support you to become a more sustainable and climate conscious organisation, and help you to identify potential cost and carbon savings too. Use it to measure your carbon footprint by answering a few questions, get tailored actions and start building a plan to reduce your emissions. You do not have to be a NatWest customer to access this service.
Business Growth and Scaling Up
The NatWest Accelerator supports and empowers UK entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to the next level. You do not have to be a NatWest customer to access this service.
The free Accelerator programme specialising in wrap around support provides:
- one-to-one coaching with experienced Acceleration Managers
- a programme of thought leadership and events
- access to a network of like-minded peers, supported by Ecosystem Managers
- focused support with access to experts from across your specialism
- use of our modern co-working spaces in one of the nationwide hubs
Support for Female Entrepreneurs
The Growing Club CIC is a not-for-profit organisation offering business training for women using a creative and alternative model.
Support includes:
- Peer Mentoring programme for women running businesses in Lancaster
- Employment & Enterprise Skills Training
- Bloom and Grow - 12 month funded growth and sustainability programme
- UK government initiative of peer-to-peer action learning for women running businesses or not-for-profits
The Growing Club is supported by Lancaster City Council.
Support for Young Entrepreneurs
The Prince's Trust works with delivery partners across the UK to offer hundreds of free courses, grants and mentoring opportunities to inspire young people 18-30 to build their confidence and start a career. We will be there to support them to achieve their full potential.
Export and International Trade
We are working with a number of the district's businesses to develop their international markets and get them trading overseas. With support from the Department for International Trade (DIT) one of our home-grown fashion designers was able to attend an international fashion show and get their products into shops in Paris and the U.S. The DIT runs a series of workshops and webinars, as well as trade missions to develop overseas markets.
Find out more:
You can export - Wherever you are on your journey, from securing your first overseas sale to developing a strategy that will you to grow and succeed, our international experts from the Department for Business & Trade are on hand to help you.
Lancaster & District Chamber of Commerce also offers a comprehensive package of international trade services aimed at helping your company succeed in international markets, including overseas trade advice, export training, export documentation, and much more.
Digital and Cyber Security
Cyber security is an absolute must if your business processes any kind of online payment and record details or holds client’s personal details/sensitive data, or if you are considering digitizing your business and going online or creating an app/software.
Creative Industries
Creative Lancashire serves to strengthen existing businesses, support new enterprises and to raise the competitiveness and profile of the creative and digital sector in Lancashire. The team have the expertise, contacts and drive to help you achieve your potential. They do this by:
- Advocating for creativity & design
- Building collaborations & networking opportunities
- Offering creative & digital business advice
- Providing information on finance, funding & growth
Construction
Lancaster & Morecambe College is involved in a number of exciting projects to accelerate the green agenda by addressing relevant skills shortages and supporting businesses to promote low-carbon services and practices.
Alongside an Energy Hub with a VR Suite and Robotics Lab, other new training facilities are being constructed on campus, in the following sustainable practices: Hydrogen-ready Technology, Retrofitting. Insultation, CAD & Electronics, Electric Vehicle Charging, and Plant Vehicle Training.
Health Sector
The Health Innovation Campus at Lancaster University is working with small businesses, social enterprises, and charities in Lancashire to re-imagine health and wellbeing solutions for the future. They can help your organisation to innovate, develop and grow.
Hospitality
Support with Recruitment
There is potential to recruit on a ‘try before you buy’ basis by offering work placements or work trial. The work placement element is available through Traineeships and T-Levels. A traineeship is having a student for 3 days per week for up to 12 weeks, and the T-Levels students would be for 350 (ish) hours in total. Placements usually come with a £1000 incentive for up to ten students. Traineeships are available through various providers and T-Levels are available via colleges. Work placements can be with you for up to two weeks before you need to decide on whether to offer employment and are available through the Job Centre.
Offering Apprenticeships is another recruitment option. Training someone in roles within your business. Apprenticeships can benefit your business by developing a workforce with skills specific to your business, allowing existing employees to pass on their knowledge with your next generation of employees and provide you with a motivated and fast-developing workforce. Apprenticeships are fully funded if your Apprentice is 16-18 years old and you have less that 50 employees, and there is a £1000 incentive for this age group.
Training
Environmental Health – Lancaster City Council's Environmental Health team is here to support your business in all aspects of Food Safety
Lancashire wide support programmes
Chamber Low Carbon - Are you a Lancashire-based business? Do you want to reduce your carbon footprint, save money and drive energy efficiencies?
Rosebud - Rosebud offers loans of £10,000 up to £300,000 for businesses across the twelve administrative areas of Lancashire County Council. Funded by Lancashire County Developments Ltd, we aim to support businesses across the region to grow, create jobs and reach their full potential.
Start Up Loans - Are you starting a new business or been trading for less than two years and need finance for your new business? Looking to borrow between £500 and £25,000 over one to five years to help your business grow?
Two Zero - Two Zero is a specialist support service for scaleup business leaders in Lancashire. Led by Lancashire County Council, its mission is to help and inspire business leaders to grow their business 20%, create jobs and develop the Lancashire economy.
To find out more about any of the support listed above, please contact the Business Support Team
Support for Third Sector, Community Interest Companies and Social Enterprise
Services for voluntary, social enterprise and community organisations
Lancaster District CVS offers a wide range of support, information and resources for organisations working in the Voluntary Sector.
Free advice and assistance is available in a variety of areas including governance, finance, and funding.
Delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with The Co-operative Bank, offers up to 6 days bespoke business support, mentoring and training for start‑up co‑ops.
The support is open to groups in the process of starting a co-operative, newly incorporated co-ops and in the early days of trading, and can help you to quickly set up your co-op, develop your business idea and become a sustainable and growing business.
Manufacturing and Engineering
Engineering Innovation Centre shaping the future of engineering skills development
AMRC North West (Advanced Manufacturing Resource Centre) supports businesses to grow and thrive, offering a range of fully-funded manufacturing support projects and collaboration opportunities designed to boost competitiveness and productivity for Lancashire’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) manufacturing community.
Intellectual Property - protecting your products, inventions, designs and more.
If you are in business, have you protected your inventions, the names, design and look of your products or brands, and the things you write, make or produce? Having the right type of intellectual property protection helps you to stop people stealing or copying these from you. And it doesn’t cost as much as you might think!
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
Watch this short, useful animation for an easy explanation of IP
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published new guidance for people wishing to do business in Europe. It provides practical information and resources to help you make the most of your IP when doing business in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA).
Registering your intellectual property (IP) in the UK does not provide protection abroad. You can view the new guidance via this link:
IP in the EU and European Economic Area
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