Key information
Request reference number: MGLA280923-7330
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
- Proof that 62% of black-owned businesses benefit from the program
Our response
The London Business Hub Business Adviser project (now closed due to European funding ending) supported over 4,600 businesses, the majority of whom were underrepresented business owners – female, ethnic minority or disabled. In Croydon, where we hosted one of these business advisers, 62% of the businesses supported were owned by Londoners from ethnic minority backgrounds.”
The GLA’s delivery partner was responsible for gathering data from participants, which included any declared information about their ethnicity, gender and disability. According to this data, between 2019 and 2023, the London Business Hub Business Adviser project supported 63 SMEs from the London Borough of Croydon, of which 39 (62%) declared they were from an ethnic minority background.
The London Business Hub exhibited at the Croydon Economic Summit and Business Expo in March 2022. We had a stand to promote our free support services to reach local SMEs attending the Expo. We were joined by the Hub’s adviser for the Croydon area who ran free 1-2-1 in-person meetings, as well as the London Business Partnership who ran the Hub’s free Property Advice Service. Tweet from the event here.
We endeavour to target our programmes to underrepresented entrepreneurs, of which black Londoners are a key target group. For example, in April 2023, we placed online adverts and sponsored content with The Voice, the UK’s national black newspaper to reach black entrepreneurs to sign up to our pilot Wayfinder business support programme operating in six London boroughs. Link to article is here.
You asked for examples of black business owners supported by the London Business Hub. Here are some case studies:
https://www.businesshub.london/case_study/nolea-health/
https://www.businesshub.london/case_study/pendulum-massage-of-london/