But the tens of thousands of businesses we’ve worked with since 2011 can tell you – it really is as good as it sounds.GM Business Growth Hub has been supporting Greater Manchester businesses for over a decade, and in that time, we’ve seen it all.

Our advisors have worked with enough businesses to know that support comes in different ways, some need more than others, but we all need some help.

At the end of the day, even if you’d have got there in the end... wouldn’t you like to get there faster?

For some founders, the idea of outside help can feel like cheating -but that’s not how it has to be, you don’t have to go it alone.

Faith, ambition and drive are qualities that make a great founder, but don’t let them blinker you to the important help you come across along the way.

What is special about our support?🔗

There are a few things that make our support different to others out there- we have no fees, no commission, no introduction costs and no catches. To put it simply, our services are free to access. The only commitment we ask is your time.

Our tailored services are designed to meet your specific needs. It’s a personalised approach that allows us to deliver targeted, actionable solutions to improve your business's performance, workforce and sustainability.

You might need access to finance or help with getting your route-to-market strategy right. Maybe you want to develop your leadership skills or bring in specialist knowledge to unblock R&D challenges. You may not actually know what area of business improvement to target first!

To us, the smallest spark of an idea is just as important as the enterprise turning over millions in profit. And because we’re not working with our own commercial interests in mind, that means we connect you up with all the other support on offer too.

As a connector – we know the landscape and can help founders navigate it. We’ll connect you with our amazing partners across Greater Manchester. From our local universities to global networks like TiE UK.

Your success is exactly that YOUR success. We’re here to cheer you on from the sidelines.

Do you really need our help?🔗

If your goal is to scale and grow your business, you’ll need to do a number of things. Obvious things like increase your revenue and hopefully your profits. You’ll also need to know how to hire people, how to acquire customers and especially how to manage both.

You’ll need to increase your productivity and drive down your costs all whilst keeping the quality of outputs high. Maybe you’ll need to build a supply chain or understand how to be part of someone else’s. Or perhaps you’ll need to work out where best to spend your money, is it on marketing or R&D?

Now I’m not saying you only need our help, but you need some help. And for all the reasons I’ve already talked about, our offer is often the best place to start.

Often for founders, our support focuses on getting you investment ready. Successful founders need to demonstrate a mix of strategic business insights, strong leadership, adaptability to economic and regulatory trends, and the ability to effectively communicate their vision.

We have our own bespoke support and programmes like ASCEND, our in-house scale-up programme in partnership with KPMG. Along with more specialised support, like Create Growth which is specifically designed to get Creative Industries businesses investment ready.

We’ve taken businesses on trade missions to America and Europe, trips to Web Summit, Lisbon and even as part of official government delegations to South by Southwest and Germany. Everything we do is about opening doors for Greater Manchester businesses.