Business Support Services · Impact Report 2025–26
INVEST EAST YORKSHIRE
Business Support

The numbers show the scale. The people show the difference.

Lloyd. Luke. Meghan. Jon. Behind this year's figures are real East Yorkshire businesses — and the named advisers who sat beside them. This is the human story the impact numbers can only hint at.

Taking care of business and supporting business growth in the East Riding of Yorkshire

These figures are a snapshot of the year — businesses are still being supported, and the impacts are still being gathered, continually.

£52mof contracts won by businesses supported
1,112businesses supported
65new jobs created
47new businesses started

A grant is a line in a budget. A bakery that doubled, a business that started hiring, an empty shop trading again — that's what the line actually bought.

For an audience that already knows what the service offers, this report does something different. Across 2025–26 the team surpassed every target it was set — and what follows puts the people behind those figures: the jobs kept local, the firms grown rather than folded, and the relationships that made it happen.

The Invest East Yorkshire Business Support team
See it in action

Business Support, in action

A short film about the service and the East Yorkshire businesses it helps.

The year, by the numbers

Business Support Services · April 2025 – March 2026 · UKSPF outputs

0
Enquiries from local businesses
97% from businesses across the East Riding — the start of every journey
0
Enterprises given in-depth, ongoing support
119% of target
£0
Grants awarded to 91 local businesses
Backing £1.59m of business projects across the area
0
New jobs created across the region
232% of target · 46% won by people aged 16–29
0
New enterprises created
204% of target · 124 businesses made enterprise-ready

Beyond the headline outputs

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Workshops & events delivered
0
Attendees · 92% rated them very useful
0
Firms entering new markets
0
Decarbonisation plans created
0
New businesses on The Supply Chain Network · +26%
Performance against target

Every target surpassed — most by a wide margin

The team didn't simply meet the objectives set for 2025–26. It cleared them — in places delivering more than twice what was asked.

Enterprises given in-depth support
119%214 in-depth
New jobs created
232%65 new jobs
New enterprises created
204%47 new businesses

Dashed line marks the target (100%). Every measure cleared it.

The people behind the numbers

Every figure is somebody's story

£49,950

One grant out of a much larger total — and what it set in motion.

Level Best Concrete Flooring
The Level Best Concrete Flooring team in Goole
Jon Wilcox · Level Best Concrete Flooring · Goole

A grant that unlocked £2.6m of new work

The grant covered half the cost of a mobile concrete crusher, letting the firm recycle on-site. Since then: over £2.6m in new contracts, turnover up 30% to £14.5m, and concrete waste to landfill cut by more than half.

“The grant gave us the confidence to invest in new technology.”Jon Wilcox, Managing Director

CPSupported by Chris Page· Business Adviser
3 jobs

Behind the jobs figure are people like Lloyd — and the team he now employs.

Ey Up Coffee
Lloyd Brodie, founder of Ey Up Coffee, preparing a coffee
Lloyd Brodie · Ey Up Coffee · Bridlington

A young founder who grew and started hiring

Practical guidance on licensing and a grant for equipment helped Lloyd turn a one-person mobile unit into a growing business — doubling turnover and profit in its second year and creating three jobs, with more planned.

“Talking to Lianne left me feeling it's possible.”Lloyd Brodie, Founder

LESupported by Lianne Emery· Business Adviser
×2

Businesses supported for a second year — highlighting continuous account management and ongoing impact.

Luke's Bakery
Luke Jenneson of Luke's Bakery in Brough
Luke Jenneson · Luke's Bakery · Brough

From local favourite to serious operation

A UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant paid for larger equipment, doubling production and sales and bringing growth plans forward a year. Luke's sourdough has since won gold at the Great Taste Awards.

“…moving into my second year of trading with a much more positive outlook.”Luke Jenneson, Owner

TFSupported by Tracy Fairbank· Business Adviser
Beyond the grant

The value money can't show

Behind every figure sits a layer of support no spreadsheet captures — the confidence, connections, resilience and reach that support businesses into the future.

01

Confidence to act

The thread running through every story: businesses leave believing the next step is possible — the mindset shift that comes before any hire or investment.

02

Peace of mind

Running a business can be lonely and stressful. Knowing an experienced person is in your corner — at the end of the phone, lifting the worry — is a real wellbeing dividend.

03

An impartial sounding board

Businesses rarely have an experienced, impartial second opinion — with advisers asking the awkward questions to support development and growth, free of charge.

04

Cutting through complexity

Sharing knowledge of legalities, compliance and red tape — saving businesses time, and helping mitigate the costly mistakes that can sink a business.

05

Connections & networks

Introductions to peer networks, suppliers and opportunities — from the Local Food Network to the Supply Chain Network — connecting local businesses into the wider economy.

06

Speeding up the impact

Support brings growth plans forward — value that a grant total alone never reveals.

07

A relationship that lasts

The relationship doesn't stop when the initial support need has been met. The service continues for as long as the business requires, helping them continually tackle their ups and downs.

08

A steady hand in a crisis

When shocks hit, the team supports businesses to find solutions. Survival is an impact that never reaches a target sheet.

09

Easy access to information

As running a business isn't confined to 9–5, resources, knowledge and information are available online to meet business needs.

How the value is created

One team to support you

Many businesses describe the same thing: not a service they used, but people who stayed beside them. This is what that relationship looks like.

The method

One process for every business

Whether a business is starting out or scaling up, the team runs a structured Business Needs Analysis — turning a conversation into an evidenced action plan. This is how the support stays consistent, rigorous and genuinely tailored at the same time.

1

Enquiry

Initial enquiries are handled by the triage team, who speak with the business directly to establish the support need — then, as appropriate, answer the query, signpost to other relevant support, or register the client and begin the Business Support Services process.

2

Business needs analysis

A one-to-one with a Business Adviser — a start-up version for new businesses, a fuller version for established businesses.

3

Structured assessment

Strategy & finance
Sales & marketing
Operations
People & skills

The same four domains for every business — and established firms rate each one, from “needs development” to “secure”.

4

Pinpoint priorities

Together they agree the top three challenges and the top three opportunities for the next twelve months.

5

Action plan

The adviser sets out the development areas and the concrete next steps.

6

Tailored support & referrals

Further one-to-ones, workshops, the resource portal, grants, the Supply Chain Network, SWOT sessions, energy audits, and specialist or programme referrals.

7

Ongoing support

The relationship continues and the needs analysis is revisited as the business grows.

The evidence base

The full picture, as told by the businesses

A selection of case studies from some of the supported businesses behind this year's figures — each a real East Yorkshire enterprise the team worked alongside.

“He's been there every step of the way.”

Meghan Rhodes · Rhodes Roots & Remedies, Driffield
on her adviser, Richard Wright

The bigger picture

What this means for the region

Add the stories together and a picture of East Yorkshire emerges. The service doesn't only help individual businesses — it strengthens the whole regional economy, against the priorities the Council itself is judged on: a stronger local economy, good jobs, thriving market towns and high streets, opportunities for young people, and the move to net zero. These are outcomes the team helped bring about, alongside the businesses themselves.

A stronger economy
Grant investment crowds in private spend, and stronger local supply chains keep more of that money circulating within the East Riding.
Good local jobs
New roles created across the area and existing ones safeguarded — the kind of secure local work that helps hold a community together.
Market towns & high streets
Empty units brought back into use and firms helped to keep trading — lifting footfall, appearance and confidence along the whole street, not just one tenant.
Young people
Start-ups and first jobs for the next generation — reasons for young talent to build a future here rather than leave.
The move to net zero
Businesses supported to plan their decarbonisation, moving the region's SME base in step with the Council's net-zero goals.
Capability & resilience
More businesses made enterprise-ready and breaking into new markets — a broad, quiet uplift in the region's economic resilience.

“Your passion for the regeneration of the East Riding coast is evident — I value the positive impact you're having on businesses like mine.”

Paul Morgan · PMP Grupus Ltd
on working with the Business Support team

Invest East Yorkshire

Explore the Business Support service

Free, impartial support for businesses across the East Riding — from a first enquiry through to ongoing, in-depth advice. The full service offer is on the Invest East Yorkshire website.

Visit the Business Support pages →