New Liverpool fund to push small business exports

LIVERPOOL City Council is promising to help create more than 1,000 jobs through a £16m small business funding programme.

The council and the Liverpool City Region local enterprise council (LEP) have secured £8m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which will be match-funded with £6m from the private sector and £2m in public funding.

The council said the New Markets and Growth Business Programme, which runs until October 2015, is aimed at supporting small businesses to grow and access export markets.

It hopes it will create around 1,080 jobs and safeguard a further 276. This means each new job will cost £14,800. A National Audit Office report published this week into the Regional Growth Fund found that each job it creates costs on average £37,400.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “At a time when public sector employment is reducing, it is absolutely vital that we do more to support businesses to expand and create jobs. Growing startup businesses and encouraging entrepreneurs is crucial if we are to make sure there are opportunities for our residents.

“The International Festival for Business taking place later this year is a huge opportunity for Liverpool to market itself to the world, showcasing the city as a great place to invest. This scheme will help us support our own firms to take advantage of the profile and exposure that the event will create.”