High street businesses urged to take advantage of series of FREE workshops tailored to their needs

As part of a new package of Government-funded support, high street businesses across Hull and East Yorkshire are being given the opportunity to sign up for a series of FREE workshops taking place during February and March, which have been carefully tailored to their needs.

Launching this week, the workshops will be held online and in person at venues across Hull and East Yorkshire, including Hull, Hessle, Beverley and Pocklington, to give as many local high street business owners as possible the chance to benefit from them.

Topics covered will include how to help customers find your business; customer engagement and retention; operational excellence; marketing a e-commerce for leisure, retail and hospitality businesses; merchandising; customer service; dealing with shop-lifting and more. The workshops are open to high street businesses across the wider Hull and East Yorkshire region, regardless of where they’re based.

Jon Brunton, Growth Hub Manager for Hull and East Yorkshire Business Growth and Skills Hub, said: “This series of free workshops is on offer as part of a broader programme of funded support for high street businesses that we’re currently delivering in Hull and East Yorkshire, with the support of our partners at Invest East Yorkshire and Invest Hull. Led by experts, the workshops are tailored to the needs of our high street businesses and cover a broad range of topics aimed at helping them to improve trade, create new products and services, and, ultimately, grow and thrive. This reflects our shared commitment to creating resilient, innovative and vibrant high street businesses that add to the distinct character of the communities they operate in, whilst also creating jobs and contributing to the local economy.”

Jon added: “I’d encourage high street business owners in Hull and East Yorkshire to take a look at the range of workshops available to them and make sure they sign up to take advantage of the free support on offer. As this is a pilot programme, we will closely monitor uptake and feedback of these workshops for high street businesses, and will certainly be offering more in the future to meet demand.”

To view the details of the free workshops on offer to high street businesses during February and March, visit the Growth Hub website at: https://heygrowthhub.com/high-streets-business-support-programme/. 

For more information about the ongoing programme of workshops and other support on offer from Invest East Yorkshire and Invest Hull, please visit their websites at https://investeastyorkshire.co.uk/events/2/ and https://investhull.co.uk/business-support/events.

Growth Hubs across England have been tasked with understanding and addressing the needs of high street businesses in their region as part of a new pilot project. Locally, this programme of work is being delivered by Hull and East Yorkshire’s Business Growth and Skills Hub, through its Growth Hub and working alongside its delivery partners Invest East Yorkshire and Invest Hull. As well as the series of free workshops, it includes targeted business support and engagement activity in four high streets in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire; two in each local authority area. Overseen by business advisors from Invest East Yorkshire and Invest Hull, this activity will focus on Hessle town centre; the high street in Pocklington; and Chanterlands Avenue and the Stepney area of Beverley Road in Hull. It will offer businesses in these four areas access to specialist training workshops and one-to-one consultations with retail and hospitality experts, as well as providing an opportunity for business owners, together with key local stakeholders, to offer feedback on the opportunities and challenges they face, and about the kind of help and support that they need to succeed. 

For more information about the broader package of support on offer, including the targeted support for businesses in the four areas mentioned above, please email alicia.mason@eastriding.gov.uk or telephone 01482 391637. 

The following workshops are now available to book. Please note that the registration process is managed by HEY Growth Hub delivery partner Invest East Yorkshire (part of East Riding of Yorkshire Council) on behalf of the Growth Hub.

Merchandising & Customer Service Excellence on the High Street – Turning Footfall into Spend & Repeat Business

• 1.30pm – 4.00pm Tuesday 10th February (Hessle Town Hall) – Book Here
• 2.00pm – 4.30pm Tuesday 10th March (Burnby Hall, Pocklington) – Book Here

Customer Service Excellence for High Street Businesses – Webinar Only

• 5.30pm – 7.00pm Monday 2nd February 2026 (Online) – Book Here

Visual Merchandising & Sales Conversion – Webinar Only

• 1.00pm – 2.30pm Thursday 12th February 2026 (Online) – Book Here

Operational Excellence on the High Street – Safety, Seasonality and Readiness

• 2.00pm – 4.30pm Monday 23rd February 2026 (Jubilee Central, Hull) – Book Here
• 1.00pm – 3.30pm Tuesday 17th March 2026 (Beverley Minster, Beverley) – Book Here

Seasonal Trading, Flow & Operational Readiness – Webinar Only

• 10.30am – 12.00pm Wednesday 11th March 2026 (Online) – Book Here

Anti-Shoplifting and De-escalation Skills – Webinar Only

• 5.30pm – 7:00pm Wednesday 11th February (Online) – Book Here

High Street Marketing for Leisure, Retail & Hospitality firms

• 10.30am – 12.00pm Thursday 26th February (Online) – Book Here
• 2.00pm – 3.30pm Wednesday 4th March (Burnby Hall, Pocklington) – Book Here
• 9.30am – 12.00pm Tuesday 24th March (Jubilee Central, Hull) – Book Here

High Street Businesses Online – Local Search, Google & First Impressions

• 9.30am – 10.30am Thursday 5th February (Online) – Book Here
• 1.00pm – 2.00pm Tuesday 24th February (Online) – Book Here
• 5.30pm – 6.30pm Thursday 12th March (Online) – Book Here

High Street Businesses Online – Content, Retention & Sustainable Growth

• 9.30am – 10.30am Monday 9th February (Online) – Book Here
• 1.00pm – 2.00pm Monday 2nd March (Online) – Book Here
• 5.30pm – 6.30pm Monday 16th March (Online) – Book Here

Contact Us

Should you have any questions about the Programme, please contact us using the following details:

• Email: business.support@eastriding.gov.uk
• Phone: 01482 391622