As our world shrinks to walking distance and we enter our second phase of lockdown, there is one thing which is noticeably brighter than ever before – community spirit. Especially within the Broch.
We can all see that COVID-19 has had and will have a massive impact on individuals, businesses and our local economy. As a business support hub, we understand the severity of the situation and have been ensuring our operations continue remotely, re-designing and re-developing where necessary to meet the immediate needs of Fraserburgh’s community.
Fraserburgh Enterprise Hub was launched with one main aim, to support the regeneration of our town by bringing together individuals looking to start or grow their business and providing them with a safe place to learn and acquire knowledge.
When lockdown was announced, this aim couldn’t have been more essential.
We spent our initial weeks helping customers quickly understand the huge amount of information being published. Navigating through the pandemic, we have managed to expand our reach. We have been presented with the opportunity to engage with existing business owners who may have previously overlooked us – assuming the hub wasn’t for them, connected individuals with additional support organisations who can provide the nuggets of information they’re looking for, while being in a strong position to respond quickly to our clients’ enquiries.
During a testing time, we are seeing businesses within the community look to make the most of opportunities, to change their business focal point. Some are even starting new ventures which once may not have been possible.
We’ve witnessed an artisan ice cream shop turn its fleet of vans into a delivery service to include household groceries and take-aways. Seen the creation of a new refrigerated grocery delivery service, with the company’s initial focus on free deliveries for OAPs. And, we continue to work with a start-up whole foods shop ready to serve nutritious, delicious food to our community through its soon-to-be launched online store.
As we continue to develop our business model and start conversations focused on the future, we are in a unique position to strengthen relationships and support those looking to launch businesses when we hit the recovery phase.
As we work through this global crisis for Fraserburgh, we will continue to support our new and existing businesses to ensure we come out the other side in the best position possible.
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