If you have spotted mannequins on the county's streets of late we are here to tell you what it is all about. And 'yes', it is business related.

Since it started in 2014 business support experts The Growth Hub, which has its headquarters at Oxstalls in Gloucester, can lay claim to helping more than 8,000 businesses and helping more than 1,000 high growth businesses.

In recent months the Growth Hub service has sprung up in locations across the county and in the last few days officially relocated its head office into a new building at the University of Gloucestershire's new Business School on the same Longlevens campus.

Spreading the word about the locations - which also include Cheltenham, Cirencester and Tewkesbury - is where the mannequins come in.

Sarah Danson, manager at The Growth Hub, said: "So many businesses in the local area do not know that The Growth Hub exists and that it's a totally free service that could really help to fast-track their growth plans.

"Many think this sounds too good to be true, but it really isn't. Not only do we offer Wi-Fi, great working spaces and as many hot drinks as you could get through, but the resources and workshops that we offer really are so good that we joked that you'd have to be a dummy not to use us... and so the mannequin campaign was born."

It is hoped the dummies will provoke some social media posts - good natured, of course - in the form of selfies, witty comments and picture captions.