Earlier this year, Derby City Council announced their post-Covid Economic Recovery Strategy, which includes support for growing businesses located in or around the city of Derby.

Ascend is a £5 million programme that has been designed to create jobs, develop promising, homegrown businesses, and engender an ‘entrepreneurial eco-system’ in Derby that will secure the region’s future economy.

Consisting of three different programmes that businesses can apply for – Growth Readiness, Investment Readiness, and the Scale-Up Growth Project – the overall aim is to nurture budding entrepreneurs and economic growth from the locality, for the locality.

David Nelson, Senior Partner of PKF Smith Cooper, has a unique insight to the process due to his role on the selection panel and thus has the capacity to advise interested parties on what the panel is seeking.

View the full case study here