EDBS launches COVID-19 recovery support programme

Support organisation East Durham Business Service (EDBS) is launching a new programme to help 30 entrepreneurs to bounce back from the pandemic.

Business Action Planning is being funded by the East Durham Area Action Partnership (AAP) and will help self-employed individuals and small business owners to redesign their business plans.

The aim of the programme is to work with 30 people from the East Durham area who have been affected by the pandemic.

Each person who signs up will be eligible for 12 hours of one to one and group support, which will help them identify how their business could diversify to tap into new markets and opportunities.

Denise Fielding, operations director at East Durham Business Service, will be working with the cohort of sign-ups, while adviser Hina Joshi will be delivering the programme on a day-to-day basis.

Denise said: “Many businesses have been fundamentally changed by the pandemic and it will take them many years to bounce back.

“Our aim is to help business owners take control by redesigning their business models which will allow them to thrive in a post-COVID-19 economy.

“The focus of the Business Action Planning programme is not to create 30 generic business plans but to work with each individual to identify a bespoke plan of action which will help them once again develop their business and set them up with a model which is sustainable for the future.”

The one-to-one sessions will help each person think about how the business could evolve and talk through potential new routes to market.

The group sessions will bring together like-minded people who can share ideas and experiences and explore how collaborative working could benefit them.

The tailored plans which will be developed with each of the 30 people who take part in the programme will look at marketing, business development, digitisation and operations.

Denise added: “This programme is perfect for anyone whose business has been affected the coronavirus pandemic.

“What’s happened over the past couple of years has been tough for everyone, and as the support organisation for the East Durham area we want to do everything we can to help our business owners back on the path to growth and success.”