Stoke Staffs LEP

National Business Support

As well as the national support signposted on this page, local businesses can also seek locally tailored advice and support through the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub, via its business helpline. You can contact the Business Helpline on 0300 111 8002, or by e-mail to businessenquiries@stokestaffslep.org.uk.

There is a wide range of national business support offered through UK Government and its constituent components. The websites for these bodies are listed below and on them you will find lots of useful information and opportunities to support your business development.

What our own Growth Hub support offers is additional locally informed and tailored personal advice from the people with experience in working with the other local and national support programmes.

The websites of all government departments and many other agencies and public bodies have been merged into GOV.UK. Here you can see all policies, announcements, publications, statistics and consultations.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will support businesses working both in the UK and abroad, and aims to deliver a single voice for business inside government, focused on growing the economy with better regulation, new trade deals, and a renewed culture of enterprise.

DBT’s new centralised website, ‘Help to Grow’, will make it simpler for firms to find, access and use the information and support they need in one central space. This site also brings together the wealth of expertise that the newly formed department has to offer.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is a brand-new Department that has been established to deliver the Prime Minister’s ambition for the UK to become a science and technology superpower and to improve the lives of everyone across the country through stronger growth, better jobs and bold discoveries.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is a new department focussed on reducing energy bills, increasing energy independence and leading the transition to net zero. It aims to transform the UK’s energy supply by investing in renewables and nuclear power, and supporting the North Sea oil and gas industry to decarbonise production.

HMRC are the UK’ tax and customs authority, responsible for making sure that the money is available to fund the UK’s public services. They facilitate legitimate trade and protect our economic, social and physical security.

The Intellectual Property Office is the official government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.

The ESFA brings together the former responsibilities of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to create a single agency accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults.

ACAS provides free and impartial information and advice to employers and employees on all aspects of workplace relations and employment law. They support the workforce relationships which underpin business success.