New government funding initiative subsidises “IT and digital” advice

UKITA joins national growth initiative offering £2,000 advice to help small businesses and start-up businesses grow

The national organisation for SME IT companies, the UK IT Association (UKITA), has become part of the government’s £30 million Growth Vouchers programme.

UKITA is one of only two associations whose members are eligible to provide advice on “IT and digital” activity to small businesses in England.

The government has launched the Growth Vouchers programme to identify the type of advice that most benefits small businesses. The Growth Vouchers programme will distribute vouchers to approximately 20,000 small businesses in England.

Half of the businesses will be selected to receive a voucher for up to £2,000 matched funding to help pay for business support in one of five specialist areas.

The programme is running until March 2015 and will offer a 50% 'cash back' voucher worth up to £2,000 to smaller businesses which can be put towards obtaining strategic advice and guidance in the five important areas of IT and digital, finance, marketing, staffing and leadership.

UKITA members will help businesses with up to 50 employees through one-to-one advice and guidance focused on improving their performance over a range of IT and digital areas.

Small businesses with Growth Vouchers funding can access a pool of verified and quality-controlled UKITA IT advisors.

Areas that are eligible for funding include: 

• Improving the customer online experience
• Analysing your technology usage
• Digital project planning
• Automating your business processes
• Selling on-line/e-commerce
• Your online visibility

Helen Brewster, Chair of UKITA, comments: "We are delighted to see that with the innovative Growth Vouchers programme, the government is confirming our view of the vital role that IT and digital now plays in the competitive success of almost every business, whether large or small. In the past, IT was often seen as an unavoidable overhead for businesses rather than a competitive and strategic tool which brings opportunities to drive business growth and success." 

UKITA members are part of an established trade association and they operate under a code of conduct which has a track record of enabling UKITA and its members to participate in funded projects.

Phil Oakley heads up UKITA’s IT/digital advisers’ national group and added: "The timing of the new voucher scheme is excellent because we are in the process of developing a national network of UKITA members who can provide help and

guidance to businesses operating under the UKITA code of practice.”

Businesses who would like to apply for Growth Vouchers to get help with any of the five business areas should go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-growth-vouchers

Or search for accredited advisers on the Marketplace at https://marketplace.enterprisenation.com/

For more details of UKITA, please visit http://www.ukita.co.uk/growthvouchers