Business Productivity

Overview

The Business Productivity Service provides a route to fully understanding and unlocking enhanced productivity improvements in your business through access to fully funded consultancy support. Your support will be managed by an Exemplas Productivity Manager and from industry leading productivity experts from Leeds Beckett University.

We will work with you through a proven process that will enable you to:

Benchmark the productivity performance of your business
Identify measurable improvements
Produce a Productivity Improvement Plan
Drive productivity and profitability

Grant support of between £5,000 and £50,000 is available to selected businesses where the advisory element of the project has identified a need to invest in new technologies and/or equipment that will accelerate productivity improvements. In order to access financial support, you will first need to have been in receipt of advisory support.

Am I eligible?

Your business must:

Have between 5 and 100 employees
Be based, or looking to locate, in West Yorkshire (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds or Wakefield).
Have been established for at least 12 months and operate from commercial premises.
Generate the majority of turnover from trading with other businesses.
In respect of the grant element only have access to match funding to invest alongside the grant. Please note that the minimum grant is £5,000 at an intervention rate of 25%, therefore minimum total project costs are £20,000 and you must have at least £3 of funding available to invest for every £1 of grant awarded.

Your project must:

Demonstrate, how with advisory intervention, it will lead to productivity improvements within your business.
Consist of capital investment in new technologies/equipment, or land/premises to achieve meaningful improvements in productivity and growth.
Create one job paying above the Real Living Wage for every £15,000 of grant received, and/or upskill existing employees through accredited training for every £5,000 of grant received. In terms of the latter, eligibility will be determined on a case by-case basis.

Inclusive Growth

As part of the Combined Authority’s commitment to delivering Inclusive Growth that benefits everyone, it has introduced new measures to encourage businesses to maximise their positive impact on the region.

If, through the financial element of the programme, you receive a grant of £25,000 or over, you will be expected to make a mandatory Inclusive Growth commitment. Examples include, but not are not restricted to, improve the skills and employability of young people in education, increasing training and development opportunities in the workplace or implementing meaningful actions to make the business more environmentally sustainable.

Businesses receiving a grant of less than £25,000 are encouraged to undertake a voluntary Inclusive Growth commitment.

The Combined Authority and its network of partners can help you to access several products and services that will help you to take these positive actions. Initial guidance and advice on these commitments are available here.

How to Express Interest

By e-mail at businesssupport@the-lep.com or by phone on 0113 348 1818.

This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund[1]prospectus