Solent Local Enterprise Partnership has a remit to help local authorities secure funding for infrastructure and investment to enable businesses to grow and enlarge the economy. they also provide a lot of support to smaller businesses and are currently holding a round of seminars with simple starting points like getting new businesses off the ground (below) to trading overseas and team building and business development.
Most of the events are free including this one below:
FREE Creative Business Workshop
Time 08:30am- 13:30pm
Sir James Matthews Building, Solent University, SO14 0YN
Come join us at this FREE workshop if you are a young creative business or simply want to know more about using creativity in business. This event will give you and your business all you need to succeed in the creative industry and the edge you need to work collaboratively with them. Learn all you need to know about starting out, working with businesses, the support and funding available and much more.
horndeanmatters 
Guy, Happy New Year. It may be helpful for your (business) readers to know how EHDC in general and Horndean in particular interacts with Solent LEP (e.g. Does it have any representation on the LEP board? Is the LEP successful? How is that measured?) and to know what benefits and projects are coming Horndean’s way. To me it appears that if business is not located along the Southampton~Fareham~Portsmouth corridor, the LEP is of very limited value to the rest of us. Am I wrong? Steve
Hi Steve, Solent LEP covers South of Butser. The board is made up of a number of businesses and authorities that are in the heart of the LEP. Currently the board members are Southampton, Portsmouth, IOW, Fareham and HCC. EHDC has a 1% share in the population in SLEP so is not a weighty member but does have a say. The next AGM to vote in the board is in the next few weeks. Solent LEP has brought in vast chunks of money for regional infrastructure growth and looks like an inevitable replacement for PUSH. As the cabinet member South of Butser I represent EHDC at PUSH meetings and in the coming months when the SLEP meetings are formalised with the local authorities will be nominated to do so here too.The LEP does have a strong focus along the M27 corridor as you note but I am about to kick off a series of meetings with the LEP to see how they might support us on the employment site at Land East Of Horndean if this is successful at planning. The aspiration is 700 jobs for 700 homes with a view to technology, engineering and other professional sectors. guy.