Rachel Fletcher, Growth Advisor
Are you a business owner or a senior level employee looking for practical advice on improving your business? Are you struggling with a grant application or business case? Are you a social enterprise, charity, manufacturing or digital business?
Meet Rachel from our team of business advisors. Known for her supportive, practical, and pragmatic advice, Rachel was very involved in supporting companies during the pandemic to help them identify and access the correct grants and send through the required information.
She’s now engaged with new businesses, that haven’t previously been in touch with Business Sheffield to see how we can help and provide a constant and consistent source of advice and support, linking them into other organisations, support schemes and individuals. Her attention to detail and thoroughness gives her a happy knack of heling businesses get the detail right when applying for grants or tenders.
Even though she supports all kind of businesses, there are some specialist areas Rachel is a real authority in: women owned businesses, charities/social enterprises, manufacturing and digital. She’s also great at understanding finance needs and helping companies identify options (particularly with respect to grants and helping them understand and apply for them) and developing strong business cases. She’s also super interested in R&D/innovation, new technology, and new ideas that businesses can implement to help them overcome challenges and grow.
So where does this expertise come from? Well, Rachel previously worked for and ran a consultancy company for 10 years (as MD for 4 years) with 30 staff and 2 offices, working on behalf of the EU and UK government on grant funding. She set up own business 17 years ago, providing grant writing, public sector tender writing and business support.
She has an extensive network across South Yorkshire/Yorkshire/Derbyshire & Leeds city region to draw from.
Most importantly she has personal experience of setting up and growing a business, the challenges this presents, recruiting and managing staff and securing contracts. She’s very involved in the strategic and operational delivery of her own company and the activities she delivers for clients. Operating both as an advisor and a practitioner from a place of lived experience offers businesses real up to the minuet advice and experience. Business will find Rachel patient and friendly yet motivated and always ready for a challenge.
