New £1.5m Scheme to Advise Cheshire UK Firms on Superfast Broadband

A new scheme called Connecting Cheshire Superfast Business, which is supported by £1.5m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Connecting Cheshire, has been launched to help over 900 small and medium-sized businesses across Cheshire and Warrington (England) make the most of superfast broadband.

The scheme, which is effectively an extension of the joint £28.5 million Connecting Cheshire partnership between the local authorities, BT and central government (here), is being delivered by Peninsula Enterprise and Groundwork Cheshire. It aims to “help eligible businesses learn about and exploit the opportunities brought about by digital technology and fibre-optic broadband“.

It’s hoped that the effort could result in increased business productivity, which would allegedly create about 478 new jobs across Cheshire in the next two years and boost the economy by almost £19.5m.

Michael Jones, Leader of Cheshire East Council, said:

“Superfast Business is a great way for firms to understand and benefit from broadband technology. It will complement our major investment of public funds to extend faster broadband infrastructure to most areas and bring real benefit to businesses and economic growth to Cheshire.”

It should be said that nearly all of the related Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and Super Connected Cities (UBF) schemes aim to offer similar support for businesses. Apparently eligible SMEs will gain access to fully-funded support, including a team of expert advisers, a programme of events on hot topics offering “inspirational insights and practical solutions and specialists with niche expertise“.