Solent Freeport has launched a major business survey to find out what challenges and opportunities the region’s businesses are experiencing.

This will help the organisation to ascertain the best types of training, development and workforce support to stimulate growth.

The Solent Freeport Business Growth survey takes just 10 minutes to complete and businesses are being urged to participate.

It covers skills, innovation, decarbonisation and international trade.

Run in conjunction with Portsmouth City Council, the survey can be found here: https://www.research.net/r/SolentFreeport

Brian Johnson, chair of Solent Freeport, said: “Our raison d’être is to provide the best possible conditions to drive growth and accelerate prosperity across our region.

“To do that we must fully understand how our many businesses are faring, particularly with regard to challenges and opportunities regarding skills, innovation, green policies and exporting and importing.

“The input of as many businesses as possible is crucial to  help us identify the types of support that would make the biggest difference to growth.

“I urge business owners, leaders and directors to spare a few minutes from their busy schedules to complete the survey as it will subsequently input into the formulation of our future policies.”

We want to understand the skills challenges and opportunities facing businesses in the Solent. Input will help us identify the types of training, recruitment and workforce development support that would make the biggest difference to growth.

We want to know what types of training would be most valuable, what support would help address skills challenges, which roles are hardest to recruit for due to skills shortages and which emerging skills will be most important the next three to five years.

We’re exploring how businesses across the Solent approach innovation and what support would help them succeed. Insights will guide us in developing practical resources, funding opportunities, and advice tailored to individual needs.

We are asking what types of support would help businesses innovate, if grant funding was available what types of innovation would be pursued and what level of funding would be most beneficial to support innovation activities.

We’re committed to helping businesses reduce carbon emissions and transition to a low-carbon future. These questions will help us to understand priorities, challenges and the type of support that would make the biggest difference.

We want to know what type of support would be most helpful to businesses, if grant funding was available what initiatives would businesses want to spend the money on and what level of funding would be most beneficial to support decarbonisation activities?

For businesses expanding their exporting activities or starting on their exporting journeys, we want to better understand international trade ambitions and the challenges being faced. Feedback will help us shape the right support to make exporting easier and more successful for the region’s businesses.

We’re asking what assistance businesses need, what would be the preferred support types and in which countries or regions is there particular export interest.

Solent Freeport is one of twelve UK special areas that have been created by government to boost investment into parts of the country that have historically missed out, benefitting from a generous package of incentives.

Solent Freeport supports the growth of the Solent – which, like many coastal communities across the UK – has a range of socio-economic challenges.

Freeport status provides the opportunity to transform the economy around world leading maritime excellence and secure a renaissance of our coastal communities.

It aims to accelerate the creation of high-quality employment space, with investment specifically targeted at state-of-the-art growth sectors and ground-breaking approaches to decarbonisation and green innovation.

Freeports benefit from tax reliefs, simplified customs procedures, streamlined planning processes to promote regeneration and innovation, and seed funding for skills training.  They operate with both ‘tax’ and ‘customs’ sites.

https://solentfreeport.com/