Mid Sussex District Council has secured £80,000 of funding to support local retailers as they bounce back from the pandemic.
With high street businesses continuing to face challenges, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council has joined with local authorities across West Sussex to use part of the funding to develop a virtual learning hub for independent retailers.
The West Sussex Retail Hub launches on Monday 12 July and will be completely free for local business owners to use. The Hub has been developed in partnership with local business consultancy Digital Islands and consists of a series of pre-recorded learning sessions and live events with industry experts.
All live Q&A events will take place virtually via Zoom and are scheduled to last no more than one hour. The sessions, which run throughout July, August and September, will help local retailers strengthen their skills and improve their business knowledge. Experts will provide information on a range of topics including marketing, customer insight, business modelling and social media promotions.
The West Sussex Retail Hub is part of a broader programme of support including grant funding which will launch later in the year. A requirement of the grant funding is that businesses have engaged with the training element of the programme.
Councillor Stephen Hillier, Mid Sussex District Council Cabinet Member for Economic Growth said:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has made life extremely difficult for many of our local businesses and it’s absolutely vital that we support them through these tough times.
“The recovery of our local economy is the number one priority for Mid Sussex District Council and that’s why we’re providing this free support for our independent retailers.
“Local businesses will be able to connect with industry experts through the West Sussex Retail Hub and the knowledge they gain will help them to grow their businesses and create additional jobs, which will be vital to the future prosperity of our area as we recover from Covid-19.
“If you run a small business in Mid Sussex then please take advantage of the training and support on offer by visiting www.westsussexretailhub.co.uk.”
