ERDF Project Phase 1

Growing and Developing the Visitor Economy within Derbyshire (Phase 1)

Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, together with our partners Derbyshire County Council, the Peak District National Park Authority, Derbyshire Dales District Council and High Peak Borough Council, secured £1.49 million of business support funding via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Our Growing and Developing the Visitor Economy within Derbyshire project ran from 2016 to 2019 and delivered £1.3million of business support to over 700 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the area,

The project supported the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the visitor economy and its supply chain to grow in regional, national and international markets.

The Growing and Developing the Visitor Economy within Derbyshire project did this by:

• Providing visitor economy business with specific business advice and guidance
• Providing expertise and knowledge to enable visitor economy businesses access new and emerging markets that have been identified by VisitEngland
• Supporting the visitor economy to achieve economic growth within its domestic markets by aligning provision through the D2N2 Growth Hub.

The project offered 12 hours of FREE business support to qualifying businesses via a range of 2, 3 and 6 hour workshops, one-to-one specialist support plus a limited number of cycle grants.

The project strands were:

• Pedal Peak for Business
• Inspired by the Peak District
• Promoting Derbyshire Products
• Supporting Market Towns
• ERDF business support workshops

To find out more about each project strand please click on the specific page.

We are always looking to expand the range of business support workshops available. If you have experience of delivering workshops to visitor economy SMEs and would like to be considered, please e-mail Lindsay Rae with you CV and suite of workshops, along with your day and half day rates.

How do I know if my business qualifies?

To qualify for support through this ERDF funded project your business must be:

• A visitor economy business – accommodation, attraction, activity provider, food and drink outlets etc
• Based in Derbyshire
• A small to medium sized enterprise (SME)
• Less than 250 (FTE) employees
• Have a turnover of less than £25m
• Gross assets less than £12.5m
• The business cannot be owned by a non-SME

To find out more, please contact us on 01246 212924.