AD:VENTURE, the business support service delivering successful interventions to new SMEs in Kirklees, has announced that it has secured funding for a further three years.
Since its initial launch in 2016, AD:VENTURE has supported more than 5,300 businesses and individuals. The programme has delivered over a 1,000 workshops and events, awarded grants worth over £3.7million and since 2023, clients have accessed Business Enterprise Fund loans of over £1.6 million, all of this helping to create more than 1,500 jobs across the region.
Securing its position until 2029, AD:VENTURE has also adapted its eligibility criteria, increasing the age of the businesses it will support from three to five years, providing more opportunity for start-up and scale-up founders to access the financial and practical assistance they need.
Providing further cause for celebration, the programme was also recently shortlisted for the Institute of Economic Development Awards in the Collaborative Initiative of the Year category.
Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, comments:
“Entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses are vital to our economy, creating jobs, driving innovation and helping our communities thrive.
“Through our Growth Hub, we’re making it easier than ever for people with ambition and great ideas to access the support they need to start, sustain and grow a successful company.
“This is a key part of that offer, helping create a ‘no wrong door’ approach so founders can get the right support at the right time. I look forward to seeing even more growing businesses benefit over the next three years.”
David Wildman, Service Director for Skills and Regeneration at Kirklees Council said:
“We are proud to support programmes such as AD:VENTURE that help ambitious entrepreneurs turn their ideas into thriving businesses. The programme provides practical advice, funding opportunities and valuable connections that enable local founders to build confidence, create jobs and contribute to Kirklees’ growing economy.
“The extension of AD:VENTURE is excellent news for businesses across the borough, ensuring more start-ups and scaling companies can access the support they need to achieve their ambitions.”
One Kirklees business benefiting from AD:VENTURE support is Nourished & Active, founded by Holmfirth-based entrepreneur Lorna Newall after leaving a successful corporate career to pursue her passion for improving health and wellbeing.
What began as nutrition and fitness support for women in her local community has evolved into a growing workplace wellbeing consultancy supporting organisations across the region.
Through AD:VENTURE, Lorna accessed one-to-one business support, workshops, grant funding, networking opportunities and the Northern Max business growth programme. The support helped her strengthen her commercial offer, increase her visibility, build valuable business connections and gain confidence as a founder.
Today, Nourished & Active has grown into a team of five specialists delivering workplace wellbeing programmes covering nutrition, movement, mental health, sleep, stress management and menopause support for employers across Yorkshire and beyond.
Lorna Newall, Founder of Nourished & Active, said:
“AD:VENTURE has been fundamental to both the growth of my business and my development as a founder. The support gave me the confidence to think bigger, develop a stronger commercial offer and build valuable connections with other business owners.
“From workshops and grant funding to the support of my Business Manager, every part of the programme has helped me move Nourished & Active from a small start-up into a growing business with a real vision for the future.
“Being a solo founder can sometimes feel quite lonely, so having someone you can talk ideas through with, sense-check decisions and discuss concerns with has been invaluable. That personal support is one of the things that I think makes AD:VENTURE so valuable.
“We continue to be part of the AD:VENTURE programme, and I am genuinely excited to see where that support helps take us next.”
AD:VENTURE offers a wide range of support including access to a business manager, providing one-to-one support; a wide range of educational workshops; networking events; peer support from the business community; other business support opportunities; vital connections with relevant experts; and access to finance through strategic partners such as BEF loans and growth grants.
For further information about the AD:VENTURE programme, please visit: AD:VENTURE · Ad:Venture Business Support and for regular updates please follow: LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube.
