The South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) has extended its partnership with Cumbria Chamber of Commerce for the continuation of the Cumbria Business Growth Hub and Business Start-up Support for another year.

The financial support means that new and existing firms in South Lakeland will continue to be able to access free business advice, support, training and a match-funded subsidy for specialist consultancy support.

SLDC’s contribution is between £33,000 and £17,500 of which is provided from Brexit business support-related funding, available to local authorities from government.

Since South Lakeland District Council began funding business support through the Growth Hub, it has supported 299 existing businesses and helped 97 new businesses get off the ground.

The Growth Hub is currently administering the GSK Enterprise Fund, which is helping to create high-value employment to offset the impact of redundancies at GSK in Ulverston.