Rural Business Growth Service Appointment for Kingsmere Director

Kingsmere Finance's Managing Director, Geoff Maclauchlan has been appointed as a member of the North of Tyne Rural Business Growth Fund Investment Board. He has also been appointed as a Technical Specialist for the North of Tyne Rural Business Growth Service (RBGS). The RBGS is a £7.896m project to support micro and SME businesses based in the rural areas of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

To be delivered over the next three years by Advance Northumberland, the programme's main objective is to provide a bespoke and locally accessible business support and advice service. It will focus on meeting the needs of rural businesses with the development of business growth plans and other specialist support. In addition, this support aims to aid businesses in their COVID-19 response resilience planning.

The programme is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the North of Tyne Combined Authority. The service aims to assist 300 businesses on their growth journey by 2023 and is being delivered using a variety of methods to ensure easy access for businesses across Northumberland, Newcastle, and North Tyneside.
RBGS has three clear objectives:

1. To support rural businesses with growth potential and ambition to develop and implement business growth plans.
2. Develop a more diverse business base by supporting rural businesses to grow, creating new employment opportunities and increasing productivity.
3. Stimulate investment in the growth of existing private sector rural businesses.

RBGS provides a single point of contact and access to one-to-one specialist advice in a range of subjects, to help rural businesses develop a business plan to maximise their chances of securing funding and financial support. Under the scheme, each rural business receives an individually tailored programme of support.

NBSL are working with RBGS to deliver the Technical Specialist one to one support to rural businesses under the programme. NBSL are one of the longest established and most successful business support organisations in the region, helping people to start and grow businesses across the North East of England for over eighteen years.

RBGS also offers capital grant support for businesses looking to expand or diversify their operations. This means that business owners located in the rural areas of the North of Tyne, may be able to access up to 40% towards the cost of a growth project.

Commenting on his appointment, Geoff said "I am delighted to be able to use my experience as a senior level portfolio/part time finance director to help rural businesses in our region, particularly given the challenges they have faced since the pandemic."

Any rural businesses wishing to find out how to access the RBGS programme of support can find out more and register here.