FUNDS donated to Thurrock as part of the government's 'Levelling Up' initiative appear to be funnelled back to businesses that are supporters of the Conservative party who have been hired as consultants by Thurrock's Council.

The authority has been granted more than £150,000 from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which is to be used to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.

To that end Thurrock Council has announced that free website design and social media support is being offered to a limited number small businesses across the borough as part of its 'Welcome Back Fund' programme.

A statement issued by the council says that to help businesses recover from the financial impact of the pandemic, it is working alongside e-learning and digital firms ComSkills and The Data Skills Consultancy to boost their online presence with social media and website training, one-to-one support or website building.

For small family-run or independent businesses that do not have a website or would like a new website, ComSkills is offering up to six Thurrock-based businesses the opportunity to have one built and hosted free of charge.

Spaces are also available for free social media training to help small or medium enterprises set up and run their business social media pages, use social media data to understand customers and to give tips for creating engaging posts and content.

Six years ago the council ran a similar initiative, using a locally based social media marketing company. It was widely regarded as very successful. However, this time it has elected to bring the expertise from companies outside the borough – though simple scrutiny of them poses some questions.

The Data Skills Consultancy has been operating for two years. Its social media profile is remarkably low – at the time of the council's press release it had just three people following it on Facebook and 16 Twitter followers. Those numbers have increased in the last 24 hours.

The founder of the Data Skills Consultancy is Dr Oliver Marsh, a former government official who worked in Downing Street. He is also linked with the management team at Kent-based ComSkills.

One of his colleagues on the management team at ComSkills is Mark Millmore, currently a Conservative councillor in Hereford where he works to support Tory MP Jesse Norman, a former Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

Thurrock Council's cabinet member for regeneration, strategic planning, and external relationships Cllr Mark Coxshall says: "Small businesses are the backbone of Thurrock and the beating heart of our towns. They've done an incredible job welcoming shoppers back to our high streets, and we continue to offer much-needed support to those that need some help bouncing back after the pandemic to strengthen our economic recovery.

"We are supporting shops on the high street through our 'Shop Safe, Shop Local' campaign, and to boost businesses even further we are offering a helping hand to those that need some extra insight and practical skills.

"These services are all free and are designed to help eligible owners of small businesses in the long-term rather than providing a quick fix."

Cllr Coxshall has been asked by Nub News what the selection criteria was to select its partners for this initiative and why the two linked companies were selected. To date, he has not replied.

The council itself has declined to answer any questions from Nub News.

The 'Welcome Back Fund' initiative runs until 31 March 2022. For more information, eligibility criteria and how to sign up, visit the council's dedicated webpage.