Enabling Digital Transformation for Local SMEs

The Challenge:
Many local SMEs across the North East & Yorkshire lack the digital tools, knowledge, or confidence to modernise operations, improve their online presence, or adopt new technologies. As part of the UKSPF-funded support initiative, a business support delivery organisation was appointed to deliver hands-on, practical support and needed experienced consultants to lead delivery at scale.

My Role & Contributions:
As a freelance Digital Transformation Advisor, I worked directly with SMEs across the region to assess their digital maturity and provide personalised support & training.
• 1:1 On-Site Consultations: Conducted digital audits for 4–8 businesses daily (3 days/week), offering advice on websites, SEO, digital & AI tools, social media, and online growth opportunities
• Grant Facilitation: Supported businesses in accessing fully funded £3,000 digital equipment grants, explaining eligibility and guiding applications
• Ongoing Support: Delivered tailored follow-ups to ensure measurable progress, and maintained full compliance with audit and reporting standards
• Event & App Development: Contributed to the success of a new Technology event development & delivered by the in-house team, building a custom Jotform app that enhanced visitor experience with schedules and branding
• Website SEO Support: Provided optimisation input and content updates for the 5-page brochure and eCommerce websites developed under the scheme

Outcomes & Impact:
• Enabled dozens of local SMEs to take meaningful steps toward digital adoption and operational improvement
• Boosted business confidence in using digital tools to streamline workflows and grow
• Delivered consistently high-volume, practical support within a high-pressure, fast-moving government programme
• Supported programme compliance and long-term tracking of business outcomes

1:1 Spotlight - Rich, A Local Photographer & Business Owner
As part of the Digital Transformation programme, I worked directly with Rich, to support his local SEO and content strategy.
We started by reviewing his website to identify key opportunities to improve search visibility. I used AI tools to help rewrite and optimise meta titles and descriptions, making them more search-friendly and aligned with his services. We also used AI to generate ALT-text for his imagery, improving accessibility and boosting his on-page SEO performance.
Following the updates, I delivered a tailored 1:1 training session, walking Rich through how to use AI tools himself, showing him how to prompt effectively to generate content for blog posts, web copy, and customer emails. This gave him the confidence and tools to manage his marketing more efficiently going forward.

Rich said:
“Gemma is incredibly approachable, knowledgeable, and always up to speed with the latest in SEO, web design and AI tools. Through our one-to-one sessions, she helped me improve my Google Business profile and boost my SEO. She also introduced me to AI tools which we used to create alt text, meta tags and SEO-optimised blog content, streamlining my local SEO strategy and website to be more effective. Already this has made a huge difference and increased the number of visitors to my site and I’m starting to see more enquiries come in too. She’s also provided me with some of her AI Prompt Packs which I am looking forward to trying out. I would definitely recommend Gemma to anyone wanting to improve the digital side of their business and implement AI tools to help them.”

If you're leading a local business support programme or need hands-on help with digital transformation, AI integration, or SME engagement let’s connect.

Book a free 20-minute call to explore how I can help you deliver practical, high-impact digital support.