Workspace provider Signal has been shortlisted for three awards at the SME National Business Awards 2023, including a place in the Positive Impact category.
Just five years since its conception, the company has grown to become a focal point for East Hampshire’s small business ecosystem and these efforts have now been recognised by the awards, for which it has been nominated for the Positive Impact Award, the Networking Award, and Best Community Business Award.
The SME National Business Awards celebrate the achievements of small and medium-sized businesses of 250 employees or fewer across the UK. The 2023 awards will be presented at a ceremony at Wembley Stadium on 1 December.
The company was founded in 2018 by Emma Selby with the direct aim of making Whitehill & Bordon the best place in the UK to own and run a small business. She was soon joined by Louise Eldridge as head of community.
It works closely with The Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company (WBRC), the organisation overseeing the major regeneration of former military land in the town. Small business creation and support forms a vital pillar of WBRC’s placemaking ambitions, and will help ensure that the new, growing town will achieve sustained economic success for decades to come.
At the centre of its business support activities, the company manages 20,000 square feet of work space, from private offices to workshops, studios, and co-working spaces across four distinct, characterful sites in the town.
These spaces are currently home to 40 local businesses, from carpenters and distillers to silversmiths and care home providers.
Most recently, the company collaborated with WBRC to create an ideal business hub on the mezzanine level of The Shed, a local independent shopping centre, which now serves as dedicated workspace for 13 businesses.
Among East Hampshire’s local businesses, the company is particularly prized for its business networking events and workshops which enable local entrepreneurs and stakeholders to meet, share ideas, collaborate, and offer the vital emotional and practical support that running a successful business requires.
Ms Selby said: “We have always had an ambitious goal to transform the culture of our town by developing a strong and engaged business community. Being nominated for three national awards is a great honour and a real motivation to keep moving onwards and upwards!
We’re determined to make Whitehill & Bordon the best place to be a a small business owner in the UK. And when this is complimented by the work WBRC is doing in attracting major international business to the area, our town is becoming something really rather special.”
