There are a number of council services and responsibilities that your business may need to deal with. These include (but are not limited to):
- Planning issues
- Environmental Health issues (such as Food safety and hygiene and Health and safety)
- Licensing issues (such as sale of alcohol and public events)
You can seek help by identifying which if any local authority services/responsibilities might be relevant to your business and contacting the relevant service(s) to find out what information/action is required to achieve your business aims.
Heart of the South West Growth Hub
The Heart of the South West (HotSW) Growth Hub provides a central business advice service to businesses within Devon and Somerset.
The Growth Hub is a free, first point of contact for pre-start, start up and established businesses seeking support and advice. There is a local, dedicated advisory team on hand to answer questions, provide guidance and to make referrals to specialists on specific business topics such as; funding opportunities, marketing, exporting and innovation.
The Growth Hub service provides:
- Online Business Advisers – Knowledgeable about the local business landscape, the team will talk through your business goals with you and introduce you to an appropriate support provider to help you achieve them.
- Meet your Growth Hub Events – Monthly events are run across Devon and Somerset where you can speak directly with an adviser and get updates on all the support available to you.
- heartofswgrowthhub.co.uk Website – The Growth Hub web portal provides information about the business support that is currently available in Devon and Somerset, as well as links to national programmes. You will also find full listings of all free local business support events.
- Information – The monthly e-newsletter provide updates on support services available to businesses such as advice, grants, funding, events and workshops and key business topics such as sales, marketing or public procurement opportunities. Sign-up via the website.
NEW- Prosper Business Support
Prosper is a new support service for businesses and entrepreneurs in Exeter, East Devon & Mid Devon. It offers wide-ranging support covering support for running your business, support to start a new business, support for businesses looking to take on additional staff, & support for businesses looking to become more environmentally friendly and reach net zero or decarbonisation goals.
Register using their sign-up form to find out how they can support you and your business.