At Stephens Scown we are pleased to be supporting a new initiative, the South West Food Hub, a service to support the local food and drink industry during the difficult times arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, and beyond.
We are working in collaboration with PKF Francis Clark and the Hub is also being supported by other organisations including the Heart of the South West LEP and Exeter City Futures.
The South West Food Hub will facilitate business to business connectivity and interaction and will undertake a number of activities to support local SMEs in the food industry.
This will include:
- Developing a dynamic online portal for the food and drink sector, which will match supply and demand and provide information, assistance and support to local food and drink SMEs.
- Supporting regional preparation for readiness for the Crown Commercial Service’s pilot for its new Dynamic Food Procurement System, due for launch in autumn 2020. The South West Food Hub will do this by facilitating engagement with local food and drink suppliers and producers, helping them to meet the entry criteria for the new system which will enable them access to public sector food procurement.
- Facilitating a ‘healthcheck’ for local food and drink businesses to understand how they are being affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Insights from this research will enable the South West Food Hub to establish appropriate support mechanisms that will help businesses to recover – and this is where we need your help.
Can you help by completing a short survey?
Please follow the link below to the fully anonymised survey, it will take no more than five minutes to complete and will provide a valuable snapshot of the sector across the region. We will keep you up to date with developments and will share the results of the survey with you.