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
Fashioning Africa
Meaningful relationships were built with local communities and diverse experts in this Collecting Cultures project, which saw new ways of working trialled and access widened.
Projects
Bringing Manchester's Victoria Baths back to life
This project has renovated and refurbished Manchester’s Victoria Baths, regarded as Britain’s finest historic municipal swimming pool.
Projects
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre Extension
The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre on the Jurassic Coast has been extended, allowing more people to interact with the heritage of this World Heritage Site.
Projects
Governor's Residence Access
The Governor’s Residence, part of the Down County Museum, has been made accessible for all visitors, thanks to the National Lottery.
Projects
Rhythms of the Tide - Area Partnership Scheme
Rhythms of the Tide was a project which aimed to enhanced Chichester Harbour, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Projects
Restoring and sharing Northwood Cemetery on the Isle of Wight
The Friends of Northwood Cemetery created a Heritage Resource Centre and Heritage and Conservation Trail for Northwood Cemetery on the Isle of Wight.
Projects
Gartnavel Royal Hospital Chapel
Gartnavel Chapel in Glasgow was repaired and restored to create a cancer support centre where patients and their families can receive free support and care.
Projects
Invertebrate Challenge
Do you know your annelids from your arachnids? This training project aimed to increase the number of people skilled in recording invertebrates across Shropshire.
Projects
Grotto Restoration - Education Project
Painshill Park Trust returned a breathtaking crystal cave to its 18th-century glory.
Projects
The William Morris Gallery Development Project
The 18th-century, Grade II* listed building has been completely refurbished, revealing many of the original Georgian features for the first time.
Projects
RENEWAL: reviving River Lambourn
West Berkshire Council and Newbury Community Resource Centre worked with local people to revive the fortunes of a neglected river.
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