One third more clients in Keuke in 2020 and the interest rate significantly increased the need for business advice

Last year, Keski-Uusimaa Development Centre Ltd (Keuke) helped a total of 2 865 companies to develop and grow their business and to start a business. This is one third more than in 2019, when Keuke had 2 099 customers.

Keuke offers business advisory services in the Järvenpää, Karkkila, Kerava, Nurmijärvi, Pornainen, Sipoo and Tuusula areas.

- Yes, this huge increase is caused by the interest rate. We really helped a lot of local companies to adapt their operations, to apply for development money and to find new ways of doing business. More new businesses were also set up than before," says Elina Pekkarinen, CEO of Keuke.

According to Pekkarinen, Keuke was able to serve such a large number of customers thanks to good customer knowledge, competent staff, effective cooperation networks and additional recruitment.

- Without a good relationship with the local business community, we would not have been able to help so many businesses suffering from interest rates. Nor would an unknown party have been able to communicate the possibility of help so effectively and quickly.

- We were able to set up a crisis hotline and crisis counselling within a few days. A model was created for the crisis service to efficiently and effectively address the company's acute needs and potential areas for improvement.

Most help in coping with the crisis and applying for funding

A special year is also reflected in the statistics on Keuke's activities in terms of what businesses sought help with.

- 40% of customers received crisis assistance at interest rates. Almost the same proportion, 35% of customers, received help with financial matters. Naturally, they go hand in hand. We did business valuations and various studies and reports, both 1,000 more than in the previous year," says Elina Pekkarinen.

There are also some particularly positive surprises in Keuke's 2020 activity statistics. Not all clients were crisis clients, but for example more than half as many internationalisation plans were made as in the previous year. Product development plans increased by 150%.

- The number of product development plans is a direct result of the business assessments and the sparring we did with companies that have been silenced by the rate. So these companies were not just applying for funding to survive, they were genuinely developing new things.

Marketing sparring has always played a big role in Keuke's performance statistics. This was not the case in 2020, which is another sign of an unusual year. The key challenges and development needs of companies were quite different.

44 million in development money and support for sole traders for the region

Keuke helped around a thousand businesses to plan their financing and apply for development finance or crisis support in the event of business disruption caused by interest rates.

In total, Keuke received €44.3 million in crisis or development aid from the state. This includes development funding from Business Finland and the ELY Centre, as well as support for sole proprietors. A total of 2 858 enterprises received funding.

- It was indeed a busy and busy year. But at the same time, we can be pleased to say that Keuke was the right company in the right place in this crisis.

Statistics on Keuke's activities in 2020 are available:
https://www.keuke.fi/client/keuke2017/userfiles/keuke-toiminnan-tilastot-2020.pdf

For more information:
Elina Pekkarinen, Managing Director of Keuke, tel. 050 549 2213. www.keuke.fi.
Keuke can also be found on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.