The Big House

The Big House programme offered a range of bespoke support to growing and established businesses within the creative and digital industries.

Details on The Big House programme at NTU

About the programme

We supported the growth of established creative and digital small businesses within the Nottinghamshire and Derby region. Our tailored workshops, talent grants and mentoring were specifically designed for established businesses trading over 12 months, whilst our Enterprise team supported businesses at all stages that were starting, growing or innovating.

I would definitely recommend the Big House to entrepreneurs who are looking to either to start out like me or to scale-up. The workshops and the one-to-one mentoring provided through the Digital Accelerator programme were super informative and there was always support available.

Helen Ma

Grants for Growth and Talent

As a creative and digital SME based in the Nottinghamshire or Derby area, we offered funding to help recruit graduates, grants on offer included:

Elevator Grant

The Big House Project recognised the difficulties facing existing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Creative & Digital Industries post pandemic who may have little or no track record in accessing finance. The Grants could be used to access a wide range of expertise - examples included web developers, software developers, product designers, marketing support, legal expertise.

The grant reimbursed 40% of the project cost.

Minimum Total Project Cost: £2500

Minimum Grant: £1000

Maximum Grant: £3000

Graduate Talent Grant

As a creative and digital SME based in the Nottinghamshire or Derby area, we offered funding to help recruit our NTU graduates with a 20% salary contribution for up to 5 months of a graduate placement.

Applications for an ambitious cohort of creative and digital SMEs to join our CreaTech Growth Accelerator are now closed. Participant successes include securing £1million of funding and one business supported to become a University Spin Out. The CreaTech Growth Accelerator provided an opportunity for big conversations, make connections and open doors – as part of a small, supportive group of likeminded founders and CEOs. There was also scope for scope for individual mentoring and business advice.

Delivered by industry experts, and anchored by our Accelerator facilitators, CreaTech provided high-value, high-quality learning, mentoring and support, bespoke for small business needs. As part of an exclusive, carefully selected group of digital CEOs, The Big House Accelerator supported small businesses to fast-track their business, open doors and prepare for big conversations and opportunities.

Read about the businesses that have undertaken our Accelerator programme

As part of this programme CreaTech provided access to:

An Accelerator facilitator who will conduct a deep dive diagnostic, and provide regular mentoring to help you get the most out of the support on offer, with a specific focus on strategically looking forward towards the end of the programme
Focused small-group workshops led by a network of industry and academic specialists
Academic expertise, research and resources - including bespoke postgraduate research projects
Peer learning and support in an informal group of founders and entrepreneurs.

Supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the East Midlands Engine, The Big House programme was made up of a consortium of partners, who were best placed to help lift potential ideas off the ground, support the start-up process, all the way to working with established businesses ambitious for growth.

We have secured funding from the European Regional Development Fund which means that most services provided as part of this programme were of no cost to eligible businesses.

The Big House is one of many projects which D2N2 has supported with European funding. Further details of these projects and much more, can be found on the D2N2 Growth Hub site.

GRADS for D2N2

Support for SMEs to access funding to recruit recent graduates, and access higher and degree apprenticeships. Businesses can also work with us to co-design our curriculum to meet their skills needs.

Sustainability in Enterprise

This programme provided practical support and funding to reduce the carbon footprint of SMEs in the local area. Support focused on four key areas of business performance: people, processes, premises and products.

Productivity Through Innovation

Improving productivity is key to economic growth and it is important as a region that we utilise and share our innovations, knowledge, skills and talent. The PTI project worked closely with businesses to achieve this.