Ready to grow your business? Join NTU's BreakThrough Programme
BreakThrough is a new business support programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Greater Nottingham Sustainable Urban Development Strategy (SUDS). It is managed and delivered by Nottingham Trent University’s Enterprise Team at Dryden Enterprise Centre.
BreakThrough is an exclusive programme for established small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nottingham looking to benefit from expertise to drive their economic growth and bring their business vision to reality. It is designed to help businesses identify key obstacles to their growth possibilities and find ways to overcome them.
About the programme
BreakThrough runs on a cohort basis for 3 months and will be delivered 3 times per year. Each programme offers a flexible package of support combining workshops, talks, mentoring and 1:1 support.
A detailed diagnostic discussion at the outset will take businesses through a series of questions, looking at current position and where they would like to get to.
Workshop topics will address the key challenges identified during the diagnostic process, coordinated and tailored to meet the specific growth needs of the cohort.
Who is eligible for support?
BreakThrough is for micro businesses and SMEs who are trading and post start-up, have a proven market opportunity and the ambition and potential to grow.
Eligible businesses must have:
- A vision to believe in – for people who are invested in developing their business and need support to bring their vision to reality.
- An ambition to grow – a desire to grow services or products, customers, markets and team in order to meet goals.
- An awareness of customer needs – a commitment to enhancing user experience, customer journey and delivering value.
- A desire to innovate – a willingness to embrace new ideas, new technology and new products and services.
Does your business qualify?
BreakThrough is funded by the European Regional Development Fund until June 2023. Support is available to SMEs based in the Greater Nottingham (SUDS) area, which includes all of Nottingham City and Broxtowe Borough, and parts of Ashfield, Rushcliffe, and Gedling. You can view the SUDS map here for a full list of eligible locations.
To qualify for support your business must be:
- Registered and trading (a Limited Company or Self-Employed)
- An SME (a small and medium sized enterprise with less than 250 employees)
- In the Greater Nottingham SUDS area (see above for details).
- Able to commit the time to attend all sessions face to face and online
If you are unsure whether or not you qualify for BreakThrough support, please email enterprise@ntu.ac.uk. If BreakThrough is not suitable, we may be able to offer you support from our other programmes or signpost you to other business support activities across NTU.
How to apply
Applications for this programme are now closed. Please fill in the form below if you would like to be updated with further information when our next set of programmes are open.
Register your interest
Contact us
If you have any questions about BreakThrough please email enterprise@ntu.ac.uk
Our Breakthrough programme Privacy Notice can be accessed here.