Epic Powers Growth Companies

Epic Group plc, the UK's leading e-learning and web design company, has won the contract to develop the web portal for new government-backed initiative The Hub 100 (www.thehub100.com).

Supported by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) fund for Regeneration and the Brighton and Hove Regeneration Partnership, and chaired by Simon Fanshawe, The Hub 100 aims to identify and support the top 100 companies in Brighton and Hove with the highest potential to impact the local economy through growth. The official search for the top 100 businesses was launched on 12 September at The Dome, Brighton.

The Hub 100 portal, based on a 'what's needed' rather than a 'what's available' rationale, will provide local entrepreneurs with access to quality information and services. Epic's design for the site, which has been praised as 'innovative', will include a knowledge management system which will help entrepreneurs identify the challenges they face and suggest peer-recommended solutions. Forums and newsgroups will enable them to network and share their business knowledge online. The development will be based on Epic's Arena product, but will have extensive tailoring to meet the specific requirements of the brief.

Development of the portal will be managed by Wired Sussex, whose executive director, Emily Aitken, is part of the Hub 100 Management Group. Wired Sussex will also be responsible for delivering a proportion of the specially commissioned seminars and training workshops to which the Hub 100 will provide access. As well as providing a key networking and communication platform for the selected 100 businessesthe portal will also offer information and inspiration to a much wider group of companies in the Brighton and Hove area, particularly those aspiring to join the Hub in the future.

Cheryl Clemons, Technology and Export Manager of Wired Sussex, said: 'Epic impressed us with their intrinsic understanding of The Hub 100 and the need for members and aspiring members to gain practical business value from this resource. We haven't worked with Epic before and are very excited to see what this partnership will deliver.'

Donald Clark, CEO of Epic Group plc, said: 'Brighton and Hove is a great place to run a business, the problem is the lack of visible growth businesses. As a growth business ourselves we are delighted to be contributors to the core Hub 100 initiative'.