Business Support and Enterprise Development
As the heritage sector faces some of its greatest challenges, our support is more important now than ever.
We have already invested £8million in business support and enterprise development training programmes across the UK, working with organisations and experts in the sector to deliver them.
Organisational sustainability is one of the four investment principles that guide all our grant decision making under Heritage 2033.
This means we will support organisations to develop the skills and capacity to ensure a sound long-term future and encourage new heritage investment that benefits communities and economies.
We want to help the heritage sector become more robust, enterprising and forward looking.
Programmes we've funded
Business support
Working with external specialists and professionals, we developed a range of business support programmes tailored to all nations in the UK.
Rebuilding Heritage was delivered by the Heritage Alliance and offered free one-to-one and small group support for organisations and individuals working with heritage across the UK.
The programme helped participants build confidence, overcome immediate challenges and plan for a sustainable future. The main areas of focus included business planning, fundraising, and marketing and communications.
For more information visit the Rebuilding Heritage website.
Heritage Compass is designed to help small and medium-sized heritage organisations in England to grow resilience and invigorate the sector. It is delivered by Cause4 in partnership with the Arts Marketing Association and Creative United.
In spring 2021, Heritage Compass was awarded additional funding by the Heritage Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to expand from 150 to 300 participating organisations.
- The programme is closed for applications. For more information visit the Heritage Compass website.
Surviving to Thriving: Supporting Sustainable Scottish Heritage Businesses was a resilience and leadership training programme. It worked with 40 heritage organisations in Scotland to help them develop sustainable business models.
The tailored training covered leadership, governance, business planning and community engagement.
This programme was run by industry experts from Museums Galleries Scotland, Built Environment Forum Scotland and Greenspace Scotland.
For more information visit the Surviving to Thriving website.
The Re:Model programme was run by Thrive and Arts & Business NI.
A wide range of heritage organisations in Northern Ireland were involved in the programme. Organisations worked to create their own personalised change plan to will act as a roadmap towards resilience and sustainability.
For more information visit the Thrive website.
Catalyst Cymru: Broadening Horizons was a bilingual, pan-Wales project. It aimed to help micro, small and medium-sized heritage organisations become more resilient and sustainable by broadening their income streams, audiences, teams and boards.
Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) ran the project in partnership with Cwmpas (formerly Wales Cooperative Centre). It was also supported by Disability Wales, Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team Wales (EYST) and Pride Cymru.
For more information visit the Catalyst Cymru website.
Enterprise development
We developed two UK-wide programmes aimed at supporting organisations working with heritage to develop enterprise skills.
Steps to Sustainability supported organisations from across the UK to strengthen their strategic leadership and income-generating skills. The programme was delivered by the Social Enterprise Academy, supported by consortium partners.
Organisations taking part learned to be ambitious and forward-thinking, and how to deliver exciting new projects.
For more information visit the Steps to Sustainability website.
The Heritage Trade Up programme was run by the School for Social Entrepreneurs with the Heritage Trust Network and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
The programme supported leaders of heritage organisations to develop and strengthen their entrepreneurialism. It aimed to equip organisations with the skills and networks needed to be more innovative, increase traded income and financial resilience, and to create positive change within their organisations and communities.
SSE supported organisations to bring heritage to a wider audience, so the sector is better equipped to build a more connected and inclusive society.
For more information visit the Heritage Trade Up website.
Discover more resources, useful information and updates below:
Projects
Ironbridge Coracle Heritage
A small group of volunteers set out to preserve the last remaining coracle maker's workshop on the River Severn and started the Ironbridge Coracle Trust.
Projects
The Restoration of the Plaza Stockport
The Stockport Plaza Super Cinema and Variety Theatre has been painstakingly restored to its exact opening day condition.
Projects
Phase 2 Extension to Ware Museum
The Ware Museum has been extended and refurbished, to allow visitors more space to explore its collections and learn about the history of Ware and the surrounding area.
Projects
Capacity Building and Cultural Ownership - the V&A in partnership with culturally diverse communities
Through new partnerships with diverse ethnic communities, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (V&A) sought to encourage cultural ownership of its collections and develop heritage skills for people within and outside the museum.
Projects
Repair and Conservation of the Bishop's Palace
Eden Court Theatre led on this project to repair and conserve the historic fabric of the Bishop’s Palace in Inverness, Scotland.
Projects
Brockwell Park Lido
The Brockwell Park Lido has been repaired and its future at the heart of the local community assured.
Projects
Priory House Dunstable: Securing Public Ownership & Access
This project facilitated the acquisition and conservation of the Grade II*-listed Priory House in Dunstable.
Projects
Building resilience in Sunderland ship-building heritage charity
Sunderland’s 600-year-old ship building heritage is celebrated by the enthusiastic volunteers of Sunderland Maritime Heritage (SMH).
Projects
A new business plan for Maryhill Burgh Halls
Experiencing financial difficulty, the Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust employed a mentor to help them develop a new business plan.
Projects
Access to Medieval Cloister Site with facilities for schools and other visitors
Founded in 827, Polesworth Abbey served as a Benedictine nunnery and now functions as the parish church for Polesworth village.
Projects
Remembering 1960s New Brighton through the photography of Keith Medley
Our Our Day Out encouraged people to explore the Keith Medley photographic archive based at Liverpool John Moores University.
Projects
Forgotten Landscapes Partnership
Strong community involvement was at the heart of an ambitious Landscape Partnership scheme to conserve and create better access to the former industrial landscape of the Blaenavon World Heritage.