Team at Like Us offers programme of support to enable businesses across the Tees Valley to up their digital game

Calling all business owners who are ready to embrace digital technology!

Fully funded support is soon to become available to businesses across the Tees Valley, from the team at Like Us.

Whether you’re a hairdresser looking to get rid of your big diary and move your appointment booking system online, or a large manufacturer looking to digitise paper-based systems for checking components, quality control or other areas of the business, Like Us is ready to help.

You may even be a sole trader or small limited company that needs help with the new requirement to digitise your accounts for tax purposes.

Or perhaps you need support to design a basic website that is easy for you to manage yourself on an ongoing basis?

If so, the team at Like Us is gearing up to help you.

Shak Asghar, CEO of Like Us, the new business support service from the team behind Nudl business funding specialist and Tees Global’s Tracey Watson and Lynn Rutherford, said: “We’re very excited to announce that we will soon be launching a full programme of training and support to help businesses across the Tees Valley embrace digital technology.

“This will include one-to-one and bespoke support, training within a business’s own setting and online training, across a range of digital platforms and technology that are geared towards helping businesses grow.”

Like Us aims to help businesses navigate shifts in the funding landscape, driving change and designing and executing initiatives to set businesses up for success.

It offers consultancy services that assist authorities and government departments in navigating the intricate landscape of state aid and UK subsidy control regulations, as well as designing impactful and creative business support programmes on their behalf.

Leveraging the team’s extensive experience and industry intelligence, Like Us develops bespoke programmes that address specific economic challenges within regions, in the belief these can foster innovation and drive sustainable growth.

The team is meticulously KPI-focused, ensuring its programmes have a measurable impact and deliver tangible benefits to businesses and communities.

With this in mind, the team is excited at the prospect of offering a programme of events and training opportunities with a digitisation theme, having secured several significant contract wins since its inception.

Any businesses that are looking to grow or improve through digitisation are encouraged to get in touch with the team at Like Us as soon as possible to register their interest in the programme, which is set to be launched imminently.

Shak says: “We will be helping businesses of all sizes and individuals at all levels within organisations to explore the potential for their own digital transformation – and what they require to have in place to achieve this, from software to hardware.

“There are significant opportunities for business owners to get their hands on the tools and also develop the know-how to take their organisation to the next level of success.

“The activities we will be offering will include one-to-one training, events and workshops – both online and in-person.”

Shak adds businesses may be eligible for limited funding to support their digitisation programme.

“Our aim is to help businesses across the Tees Valley in some shape or form with business improvement, through the implementation of digital technologies,” he says.

“If you think your business could benefit from having an audit of its current processes and how you could potentially benefit from adopting digital technology, we urge you to get in touch and register your interest in this programme, as we are expecting it to be extremely popular.

“Adopting new digital technologies may even help your business to grow in some way, enter a new market or attract a new demographic.

“Whether you already have an idea of how digital technology can improve your business, or you would simply like to explore the potential for adopting digital technology to make processes in your business smoother, we want to hear from you.”

The team is looking forward to putting on several workshops that will demonstrate how digital technology can benefit businesses.

One of the workshops will focus on the digitisation of company accounts, as there is now a legal requirement for all businesses to report to HMRC digitally for tax purposes.

“We want to help people from a grassroots level with digitising essential processes for their businesses,” Shak says.

“We could be helping a hairdresser collect customer information and appointments digitally, rather than going to their appointments book, or we could be helping a business that has a big factory streamline data processing or record performance targets.

“The benefits and opportunities that could come from digitising your organisation’s processes are endless.”

The digital programme has the potential to support business owners on how to use off-the-shelf apps that help to streamline processes or save time and money – and even access funding to digitise their processes or implement their digital transformation plans.

It could also help businesses create manageable websites and support them with managing their social media, to ensure a business or brand’s online presence is as strong as it can possibly be.

The programme is aimed at all types of businesses, from tradespeople who need help with the administration side of their businesses to chief executives looking at a large-scale digital transformation for their organisation.

“The opportunities really are endless,” says Shak. “We are looking forward to the official launch of the programme, but we’d urge businesses to register their interest now, as the support we will be able to offer is going to be popular.”

To register your interest, email info@like-us.co.uk.

ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY TEES BUSINESS