rThe Business Support Bank provides businesses in Portsmouth with advice and mentoring. You can access the bank if you are in the PO1 to PO6 postcode area. The support comes from qualified volunteer mentors, is designed to be short term, and is free.

Any business can apply to use the Business Support Bank and access 2-3 hours of mentoring. The hope is that this will stop business owners and managers from being bogged down by a problem and help them to get back to building their business.

Business Support Bank flyer featuring James CrookYou can request assistance in…

  • Business Planning
  • Finance and raising capital
  • Sales
  • Marketing

Case Study

To date over 60 businesses have been supported. One of them was Caroline Beardsley’s business, Foot Soother.

Caroline found the process to access the Business Support Bank “Easy and very straightforward”. She was matched with Jay Wood, a mentor with relevant business marketing experience.

Jay was described by Caroline as “one of the best people I have ever met”. She commented that Jay has helped her position the business in the right place in the market and feels confident about the future.

Business and Enterprise

The Business Support Bank is operated by Shaping Portsmouth in conjunction with Abri and their CREATE programme. Shaping Portsmouth is a Community Interest Company that supports Portsmouth City Council in determining the future of the city. Abri provides quality social housing and runs enterprise schemes to support their tenants.

KnowNow’s Managing Director, David Patterson, supports Shaping Portsmouth’s Business and Enterprise (B&E) programme. One of the things that David worked on with the B&E team, was the creation of the Bank. The team won the Volunteer of the Year award for the work in creating the Bank at the 2018 Shaping Portsmouth awards.

Apply to the Business Support Bank

If you’d like to apply for this free mentoring, please send an email to contactus@shapingportsmouth.co.uk

Business Support Bank mentors wanted

The Business Support Bank is also looking for mentors to donate their time to the bank. If you would like to help businesses grow in Portsmouth, please send an email and a copy of your CV to contactus@shapingportsmouth.co.uk