PURCON830 Invest East

The UEA wishes to establish a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for the delivery of specialist business support and mentoring to SMEs in Norfolk and Suffolk participating in Invest East's Investment Readiness Programme.

The Dynamic Purchasing System will be made up of a pool of people with knowledge, experience and skills to help early stage businesses achieve their growth aspirations.

Invest East is a 3-year business support project part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by four partners.

Led by Norfolk County Council, with delivery partners Suffolk County Council, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (NALEP) and the University of East Anglia, Invest East is a programme of specialised business support for Norfolk and Suffolk based businesses with high growth aspirations.

The project has three key areas: an investor support programme, promotion and profile raising and an investment readiness programme (IRP).

Invest East's Investment Readiness Programme is for SMEs in Norfolk and Suffolk who are preparing to take on investment to develop and grow their business.

The Investment Readiness Programme is being delivered by the University of East Anglia.

It will run for three years and will see multiple cohorts of businesses taken through a programme of one to one advisor support, mentoring, seminars, pitching cycles, networking events and tailor made professional support to get them in the best shape to take on investment of any type or size to grow their business.

UEA is seeking interest from suitably qualified and experienced individuals from a wide range of backgrounds to form a pool of experienced professionals who can mentor and work with businesses to help them reach their full potential.

This may be as little as a half hour phone call to a series of meetings with an individual company, or engagement with a number of businesses with similar needs in a workshop setting.

No work is guaranteed.