The Growth Acceleration and Investment
Network – GAIN
Paul Glossop
GAIN Partnerships Manager
01752 588922
Paul.glossop@plymouth.ac.uk
www.gaininbusiness.com
Where does GAIN operate?
GAIN covers the Heart of the South West and
Cornwall LEP areas: Plymouth, Devon, Somerset,
Torbay and Cornwall.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
GAIN’s whole focus is on Business Growth. To
achieve this GAIN has six main pillars:
1. The Business Engagement Service (BES)
Telephone and email-based service for any
business offering light-touch diagnostic,
signposting and brokerage.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
2. Links physical business space – formation
zones, incubation space, innovation centres,
science and business parks across the LEP areas.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
3. Links Investors with Businesses and
businesses with the finance they need.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
4. Enterprise solutions - Plymouth University
services – Marine/Renewables Expertise, KTPs,
Internships, TECTONA Challenge, One-Stop Ideas
Shop.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
The GAIN Growth Fund+ is a £3million fund to assist the growth of businesses as part of the new
Plymouth and South West Peninsula City Deal.
It’s open to both SMEs and larger organisations across the Heart of the South West and Cornwall and Isles
of Scilly LEP areas.
The aim of the Fund is to create jobs, and as such the applications will be scored on value for money,
number and quality of jobs created, and the amount of private sector investment leveraged. The job
creation must be sustainable and the project and expenditure completed by 31st March 2015.
Grants can be used for capital investment, towards the cost of the new employment, or other associated
project costs, but cannot be used for working capital.
There are two levels of grant running in the fund, a smaller scheme with grants ranging from £25,000 to
£150,000 (SMEs only) and a larger scheme with grants from £250,000 to £1million.
For a discussion on your general eligibility for funding, and how to apply for a grant please call
0800 052 5600 or email john.hutchings@plymouth.ac.uk or john.lewis@plymouth.ac.uk.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
6. GAIN Web Portal
• Will tailor content to the local area
• Business to business area where businesses
can talk to each other and share info/solve
common problems.
www.gaininbusiness.com
What is GAIN and what does it do?
GAIN web portal (cont)
• A grant-finder to link businesses with the most
appropriate solution from local, regional or
national schemes.
• A workspace-finder – a database of office
space divided by type.
www.gaininbusiness.com
How will GAIN work?
• GAIN is an umbrella for all business support
activity across the two LEP areas.
• It is totally non-threatening as it aims to drive
businesses to providers, rather than
competing with them.
www.gaininbusiness.com
How will GAIN work?
• It is an impartial service. Where there are a
number of providers providing an identical
service in the same area, it will look to signpost to
a professional/trade association/regulatory body
i.e. Chartered Institute of Accountants.
• The exception is where an organisation offers a
unique service or there are a very small number
of providers offering a specific programme in a
specific area.
www.gaininbusiness.com
How will GAIN work?
• GAIN is a network of partnerships and aims to
untangle and build provision.
• It adds value to existing provision and helps
businesses to find the most appropriate solution
for them.
• It has significant buy-in at strategic level and as
the GAIN Growth Hub is one of the three key
pillars of the Peninsula City Deal and has a high
profile with Central Government.
www.gaininbusiness.com
GAIN and Social Enterprise
Question
• How can GAIN make sure that Social
Enterprises are properly involved, supported
and integrated?
www.gaininbusiness.com