It’s seven years since Lisa Sourbutts set up her own business CUBE HR.
“I fell out of love with the corporate world but loved HR and knew I could make a difference to small businesses,” she recalled.
Fast forward to 2024 and the startup has grown to five employees and works with hundreds of businesses UK-wide, ranging from a company with two staff to one with 1,800.
Asked for the secret of her success she identified being based in Lancashire and the support she’s received from Boost.
“Everything you could ever want is in Lancashire,” she said. “Other businesses to work with, friendly people, and amazing countryside. Why would you go anywhere else?’
The entrepreneur also urged other business owners to contact Boost for help.
“There’s nothing to lose from contacting Boost and so much you can gain which can help your business, whether it’s advice, new networks or support to gain growth funding – don’t miss out,” she said.
“There is nothing to lose and lots to gain. You’ll gain new skills that are transferrable straight into your business and you’ll also meet some great people too.”
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In the early day of her business Sourbutts based herself at Burnley FC and is now at Empire Business Centre.
She said CUBE HR had three key selling points.
“First, clients always deal with the same person, no call centres here,” explained Sourbutts.
“Second, we are not just about firefighting, but offer proactive HR management throughout the employee life cycle and help implement people strategies.
“And third, we don’t have long-term tie-ins.”
Recalling her relationship with Boost she said she was assigned a business adviser and gained support through one-to-one advice and targeted masterclass events which helped her develop the skills to manage and grow her business.
She contacted Boost again in 2021 and 2023 for further help as the business continued to expand.
As well as receiving mentoring and peer network support from Boost, she also recently benefited from the Growth Catalyst programme to support the company’s ongoing growth and help her expand her network of contacts.
Sourbutts added: “When I first set up CUBE, I joined the Flying Start programme and attended sessions on finance, sales, marketing, and all of these made me think about things I’d never had to before.
“More recently I attended a Peer Network group and this helped me massively as we could knowledge share and work together in a confidential environment.”
She said the sessions taught her the importance of not undervaluing yourself.
“When you start out and you have no money coming in, it’s easy to say ‘yes’ to everything and to discount things but so many of the Boost experts told me to believe in what I was doing, and our rates, so I stuck to it,” said Sourbutts.
“We say ‘no’ to work we don’t want and focus on what we are good at.”
She said her plan was to continue to grow.
“We don’t lose clients and 35 per cent of our work comes from client referrals,” said Sourbutts. “We’re good at what we do, and we really care, so we’ll keep doing the same.”
• Led by Lancashire County Council, supported by Government and 10 local authorities, Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub, one of 37 Growth Hubs in the UK. Boost’s mission is to help Lancashire businesses thrive. Since 2013, Boost has supported over 14,000 businesses, helping create 3,500 jobs while adding £100m to the local economy.
From September 1, 2023, Boost is funded by Lancashire County Council, Department for Business & Trade (DBT), and UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocations from 10 Lancashire local authorities (Boost local authorities partners).
Boost’s local authority partners are Blackburn with Darwen Council, Burnley Council, Chorley Council, Fylde Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, Pendle Borough Council, Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council, West Lancashire Borough Council and Wyre Council. Boost offers six core services including:
• Business Support Helpdesk
• Business Advice Service
• Growth Catalyst
• Scale to Thrive
• Flying Start
• Access to Finance
The Business Support Helpdesk offers advice and guidance to anyone thinking of starting a business and all new and existing businesses in Lancashire.
Businesses located in the 10 Boost local authority partner areas are eligible for the Business Advice Service, Flying Start, Growth Catalyst, Scale to Thrive and Access to Finance.