Enterprise Hub Partner Procurement

Tender description

The Enterprise Hub is seeking to procure suitable partners to provide engagement and pre start up services in the Liverpool City Region. Enterprise Hub is a comprehensive entrepreneurship promotion and business support programme, which will foster the creation of new enterprises from pre start to early stage businesses. Providing detailed assistance to potential-entrepreneurs and helping create new business ventures Enterprise Hub will reach and provide high quality business brokerage and business support services to a diverse customer profile e.g. graduate, female and BME would be entrepreneurs; resulting in the creation of high value SMEs and social businesses across all sectors and providing a simplified route for customers to access the support when and how they need it. Enterprise Hub is led by the City of Liverpool College (CoLC) who are acting as accountable body and specialising in supporting FE student/ graduate entrepreneurship. The Women’s Organisation is acting as managing partner and specialising in female entrepreneurship. Enterprise Hub is part funded through the European Regional Development Fund. We are seeking Partner organisations to join the Enterprise Hub delivery consortium. Tenders are invited from organisation that can provide quality services that meet the brief and provide a minimum of 50% cash match (not in kind) contribution to the delivery of their services. The total eligible budget available is up to £1.5 million of which 50% is European Regional Development Fund. Enterprise Hub expect to offer Partnership arrangements to between two and 20 organisations as a result of this tendering process. The Enterprise Hub is a response to an identified and extensive market failure resulting in an 18,000 business base deficit compared to the national business base average. The Enterprise Hub is using ERDF investment to measurably increase the number of new enterprises created and sustained in Liverpool City Region by engaging with and provide detailed prestart assistance to 6360 potential-entrepreneurs and helping to create 1272 new business ventures in LCR between December 2015 and December 2018. We are seeking new partners to assist the Enterprise Hub to reach and provide high quality entrepreneur engagement, business information, brokerage and business support services to a diverse potential entrepreneurs customer profile including; • Would be entrepreneurs with ambitions to create business with growth, high growth and international market potential • Young Entrepreneurs • Graduate Entrepreneurs • Female Entrepreneurs • BME communities • Disabled people • Silver Entrepreneurs - Over 50s • People experiencing physical and mental ill health • Social Entrepreneurs • Franchisees • Residents within the LCR area and with a particular focus on neighbourhoods that experience high levels of social and economic deprivation