Top award for Plymouth City Council

Plymouth City Council has been awarded for its work supporting small businesses across Plymouth.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) gave the award to Plymouth City Council for going the extra mile to help small businesses to access over £1.4 million of funding.

Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “I’m delighted that the Council has been recognised by the FSB for its fantastic work engaging with small businesses, which are the absolute life-blood of cities like Plymouth.

“As a council we are committed to delivering a range of ongoing initiatives that support small business and we will definitely be building on this success. We have recently announced a £400,000 fund to help City Centre businesses revitalise their shop fronts and we have even more projects in the pipeline.”

The money secured by the Council has come from a variety of pots such as the Social Enterprise Investment fund, Flood Relief, Plymouth University’s Regional Growth Fund and City Deal Inward Investment. The Council has used its networks, local events and direct business visits to make sure city businesses grabbed these opportunities.

Councillor Evans added: “It’s incredibly important that the business community is able to influence local authority thinking at all levels. Not only have we helped Plymouth based enterprises access Central Government funding but through our Business Relationship Programme, local companies have helped us identify new bus routes, open up cycle paths and push internet connectivity.”