Highland

Local Support

Your local Business Gateway Adviser can meet you in person and offer 1:1 advice over the phone and via email. We have a wealth of experience, resources and workshops to teach you everything from starting up to growing your business. We also host events for you to grow your network. On a local basis, there are further, more in depth services, free to you and designed to assist you in everything from establishing and improving your web presence, taking on employees, or developing your sales skills, as outlined below...

Planning to Start

Find out what support and tools are available to you by answering a few simple questions with our Planning to Start tool. Then get contact from your local office to take your business idea forward.

Access to Finance

Whether you are looking for investment to develop or start your business, our Business Gateway advisers are on hand to help.

Recruitment

We appreciate that taking on a member of staff – particularly for the first time – is something many businesses find daunting, but our Business Gateway advisers provide free, personal, local support to guide you through the recruitment process.

Winning Public Contracts

Did you know that the public sector in Scotland alone buys over £9 billion pounds of goods and services from commercial businesses every year? We can help you improve your access to, and chances of winning, these public contracts and many more across Europe.

Doing business overseas

Small businesses can reap lots of benefits from expanding into overseas markets. As with any new venture, however, internationalising requires careful researching and planning. Our Business Gateway staff and colleagues at Enterprise Europe Network are here to help you with lots of information, contacts, events and support.

Key Sector Entrepreneurial Support

This activity is designed to build on the capabilities of SMEs to secure higher value contracts, both public and private.

Young entrepreneurs

If you are a young Highland entrepreneur, we can help you access a range of additional support to help you start and develop your own business.

The Prince's Trust supports young people aged 18 to 30 to start-up and grow in business by providing essential funding and professional mentoring support.

The main route into the Prince’s Trust in Highland is through your local Business Gateway adviser. They will work with you to see if you are eligible for Prince’s Trust support, and can provide business advice and support to help you become 'investor ready' – such as preparing a business plan and financial projections.

Useful Connections

As well as providing our own services, we often signpost our clients to other organisations that we work closely with, and who can provide further support tailored to our clients’ needs.

Supplier Development Programme (SDP)

SDP is a public sector partnership which delivers a variety of FREE tender training, via classroom style workshops working in conjunction with Local Authorities across Scotland, digitally via webinar and also provides a range of online resources connecting businesses with the Scottish public sector. Registration for SDP events is free for Scottish SMEs, and will connect your business with your local authority’s SDP Rep who can offer your business additional support.