Growing your business
At Nottingham Trent University, we offer a range of support to established SMEs who are looking to grow their business to the next level.
Working with growing SMEs
We can help your business grow with specially designed support.
Contact our business advisors and they will offer you tailored advice and cost-effective ways for you to access:
- new talent
- advanced technology and facilities
- grants and funding
- expertise
We offer help in a range of areas, including:
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Employing staff
Deciding to hire new staff can feel daunting. We're here to help you get it right.
We offer:
- help finding and employing the right student or graduate
- help with funding new employees
- recruitment events
- employer toolkits
All the above services are available to eligible SMEs in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire area.
We can also help you with leadership and workforce development.
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Staff development
Whether you are looking to develop yourself as a leader or develop your staff, we have a range of funded programmes for eligible SMEs, including:
- Innovation Management and Leadership: A programme for business owners and senior leaders.
- Innovation Community Lab: A 30-hour course to help develop junior members of staff.
Find out more about leadership and workforce development for SMEs.
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Developing new products and services
We can help you develop products and ways of working that will boost your profitability, efficiency and innovation.
We do this through a combination of:
- our advanced technology and technical facilities
- access to funding and grants
- our student, graduate and academic expertise
See Developing new products and services for more details.
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Free workshops and events
We hold workshops and networking events specifically for SMEs who are looking to innovate, explore new ideas and grow. They cover a range of topics, including:
- financial health
- marketing
- legal advice
- e-commerce.
We also hold events specific to sectors.
These events are free to attend for eligible SMEs in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.See our programme of events for more details.
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Specialist facilities
We offer access to a range of facilities, including:
- Specialist research facilities
- The Hive: support for entrepreneurs
- Future Factory: access to disruptive technology and expert advice
In partnership with the University of Nottingham, we also support life-science businesses:
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Developing international markets
Working with partners such as the Department for International Trade (DIT), we are able to offer SMEs support to expand into international trade and advise on key areas around exporting such as:
- how to choose the right market
- finding partner organisations that can help
- opportunities and challenges for businesses
We also hold workshops for eligible SMEs on exporting and international trade, delivered in partnership with organisations such as the Department for International Trade.

Working with creative and digital SMEs
We support the growth of creative and digital SMEs.
Creative and digital businesses can access the services above, as well as workshops, mentoring sessions and talent grants tailored specifically to their industry.
Contact our team to discuss how we can help your business to grow through the following services:
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Specialist workshops
Our full-day workshops are fast-paced and led by industry experts. We provide practical insights into areas such as digital marketing, building innovative teams, planning for growth, raising finance, IP and much more.
See our programme of events for more details.
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Specialist advice
Mentoring is offered via a team of carefully selected creative and digital business specialists. Get advice on a range of business growth areas including: early start issues, scaling up, pivoting, researching, testing and experimenting new business ideas, opening up new markets, marketing and accessing finance.
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Funding to hire freelance expertise
We can provide grants to subsidise the cost of hiring external expertise or talent for a specific project. Up to 30% of the overall project cost can be provided. Eligible projects could range from hiring freelance coders to build a product to paying for a website redesign.
- The minimum grant is £1,050 and the maximum is £2,250
- The overall project cost should be at least £3,500
- Businesses must be able to pay for the full project spend and cannot use any additional third party loans or grants to pay for the project
- Businesses must have commenced trading to be eligible.
Helping businesses to scale-up fast
If your small or medium business is growing fast and you are ready to scale up to the next level, then we can support your growth through a range of academic and business support services.
Find out more about our service to help business scale-up.
Providing subsidised support to SMEs
We are able to provide subsidised support to SMEs through the following programmes:
This support is part-funded by the European Regional Development fund.