Humber LEP joins forces with councils for coronavirus response

The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has joined forces with councils to co-ordinate the local response to the economic impact of the coronavirus.

A new region-wide economic resilience group is now meeting weekly to pool information on the issues affecting businesses, share resources and ensure businesses can access support.

In addition, the Humber LEP is providing daily briefings on local and national support initiatives so that all organisations talking to Humber businesses have access to consistent and up-to-date information.

‘The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented and extremely challenging situation for businesses across the Humber,’ the group said in a joint statement.

‘We are working together to support Humber businesses through this difficult period and will do everything we can to ensure that they get the help they require.’

The central point of access for business support in the Humber region is the Humber Business Growth Hub, which brings together information on all support initiatives and can answer questions and signpost to the most appropriate help.

In the South East, the Coast 2 Capital LEP said its growth hub advisors are also available to support businesses in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Online workshops will be held in the coming days and weeks on issues related to business resilience, cashflow management, and home working methods,’ the LEP said in a said statement.

‘Meanwhile, we will be convening regular conference calls with business support and membership organisations to understand issues businesses are facing and communicate these to government to help inform future support.’

The government has also announced that the new Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is now available for applications.

This scheme will help any viable business with a turnover of up to £45m to access government-backed finance of up to £5 million. Interest payments and any lender-levied fees for businesses will be covered by the government for an initial period of up to twelve months.

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