With the year coming to a close, many businesses are planning for the future and mapping out their pathway to success. To encourage Oxfordshire organisations to dream big and unlock their business superpowers, OxLEP Business has launched a new campaign.

The ‘OxLEP Business Super League’ aims to raise awareness of the superhero support that OxLEP can offer local organisations – of all sizes and sectors – to set them on the journey to business success.

This support starts with the Business Support Tool – the secret weapon in becoming a business superhero. By completing the 6-minute supercharged tool, SMEs can gain access to the OxLEP Business Super League, where they can harness the power of a wide range of fully funded business support – including a tailored Business Support Action Plan, thought-provoking workshops, mentoring sessions and networking events.

By embarking on their own heroic business journey with OxLEP, organisations can discover their inner  superpowers to help them stand out in a crowded market. This will help them to overcome any challenges and achieve positive growth.

With support from OxLEP Business, family-owned local organisation Darcica Logistics has spent the last two years discovering its business superpowers.

Darcica Logistics specialises in sustainable, cost-effective ecommerce fulfilment, parcel and pallet storage, deliveries and collections. With over 20 years’ experience in transport logistics and environmental management, they are committed to creating a more sustainable logistics industry across Oxfordshire and beyond.

With the ambition to scale up their services, Darcica Logistics first approached OxLEP by completing their online Business Support Tool for free. This highlighted the opportunities and support directly available to them, from which they joined a number of OxLEP programmes.

Through the Business Investment Fund programme, which closed at the end of March 2023, Darcica Logistics were awarded funding for their ‘Greening Logistics’ project. This enabled them to purchase a pallet wrap machine to improve efficiency and productivity, whilst reducing their carbon impact. As part of the funding, they also received one-to-one support from an innovation advisor which helped them to focus on building their business vision for the next five years.

Darcica Logistics also joined the eScalate programme, which included the Women in Business event. The programme has now come to a close due to the end of European funding, but during this time, attending the event enabled them to meet with other business women and share the challenges they were experiencing, balancing home life with running a business.

Founders Anthony and Melanie also joined some more general business support webinars which explored key topics including helping your business grow and keeping up with the ever-changing business landscape.

With support from OxLEP Business, Darcica Logistics has now achieved ultimate business superhero status; since 2020, the company has grown from a team of two to create 25 new full-time positions for local people in Oxfordshire.

As a growing business, Darcica Logistics is always taking on new local and sustainable businesses as customers and hopes to support them with their sustainability journeys. The organisation’s impact was recognised at OxLEP’s Business Celebration Event in June 2023, where Darcica was awarded ‘Most impactful new product or service organisation’.

OxLEP Business has already helped thousands of Oxfordshire businesses like Darcica Logistics by providing expert advice, technical support and access to funding. 95% of start-ups would recommend OxLEP Business’ support services.