When Nadine McCabe was preparing to launch her new business venture, Strategy2Grow, she knew she wanted to invest in further training that would help to set her apart from the competition. 

After searching online for any grant funding support available locally to help her cover the cost of this, she found some information about the Opportunity Goole project, funded by Goole Town Deal. The article mentioned that Opportunity Goole’s Flexible Grant Scheme helps local individuals, businesses or charity/voluntary sector groups to secure training, employment and business opportunities.

Nadine, who has more than 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience under her belt, decided to reach out to Opportunity Goole’s friendly team of advisors to see if they could help.

She recalls: “At the time, I was just preparing to launch my new business, which offers support services to other small to medium businesses that are looking to scale up. However, as I put my business plan together, I realised it would be beneficial for me to complete the Lean Six Sigma training, which improves both employee and company performance by eliminating waste and streamlining processes within a business.”

The Opportunity Goole team promptly responded to Nadine’s enquiry and arranged a meeting with her. They explained that grant funding to help her cover the cost of the training was already available from Invest East Yorkshire’s Business Support Services team, which is part of East Riding of Yorkshire Council. 

Nadine, who runs her business from her home in the Goole area, said: “Opportunity Goole signposted me to Invest East Yorkshire because they were already offering grant funding for training and I was able to access this to pay for my Lean 6 Sigma Black Belt certification, which I’m currently working towards. 

“Invest East Yorkshire put me in touch with a Business Advisor, who I meet with once a month to discuss my plans for Strategy2Grow and how our services can further support other businesses like mine. It’s great to be in touch with both Opportunity Goole and Invest East Yorkshire, and to know that support is available if I need it as my business grows.”

Joe Hodgson of Opportunity Goole explained: “Our Flexible Grant Scheme accepts applications for grants towards the cost of securing training, employment and business opportunities, but it was really set up to plug gaps in existing grant funding provision. We met with Nadine to talk through her plans and training requirements and, on this occasion, we signposted her to the existing grant funding provision on offer from Invest East Yorkshire. We’re delighted to hear that she got the outcome that she was hoping for and has been able to launch her new business; we wish her every success for the future.”

Nadine launched Strategy2Grow earlier this year and is already putting her extensive knowledge and experience to good use by supporting other businesses with strategies to help them scale up effectively and easily.

She said: “My business is still in its early stages, but it’s going well. I’d recommend Opportunity Goole and Invest East Yorkshire; they were really helpful when it came to letting me know what was available. You don’t always know what’s out there until you start speaking to someone. My advice to anyone thinking of starting a new business would be to speak to them and check what’s on offer as you may be missing out on free support or grant funding that could make a huge difference to your business if you don’t.”