We’ll be back from Tuesday 2 January to bring you lots more support, guidance, opportunities and resources to help your Sandwell business thrive and grow.
In the meantime, merry Christmas!
If you’re working quietly on your business over the festive break, check out our current programmes:
A regeneration project for Grove Lane in Smethwick has provisionally been awarded £18m in government Levelling Up Funding.
The government has identified the Grove Lane project in Smethwick as one of 55 successfully proposed projects nationally. It has provisionally awarded the project £18,063,128 from Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.
In line with the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 submission, the funding will be used for land acquisitions to enable new housing around the Midlands Metropolitan University Hospital. It will also support the delivery of the Grove Lane Masterplan which Sandwell Council’s Cabinet approved in February 2022.
Funding methodology
In deciding the funding methodology for Round 3, government ministers had three primary objectives:
1. To prioritise places assessed as ‘in need’ according to metrics set out in the Levelling Up White Paper
2. To ensure a fair geographic spread so the Fund can benefit all areas of the country across its lifetime
3. To support the ‘pride in place and transport’ Levelling Up missions by focusing predominantly on regeneration and transport projects. (Please note that a smaller share of funding is going to transport projects this time compared to previous rounds, given recent wider government investment in local transport.)
The funding award is provisional and subject to project validation, subsidy control checks, and departmental sign-off. Sandwell Officers will be working through this assurance process with government civil servants.
Here in the West Midlands, Dudley Council and City of Wolverhampton Council also made successful bids in Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.
The Black Country Industrial Cluster is hosting a workshop: ‘Creating a resilient future for your business: How to thrive amidst rising energy costs and decarbonisation challenges’. The free workshop takes place on Tuesday 6 February at Bescot Stadium in Walsall.
The transition to net zero creates greater challenges and opportunities for Black Country businesses than any other UK region. Many businesses in the region depend on competitive energy prices to compete globally. With an increasingly carbon-conscious customer base this can be complex to achieve. This decarbonisation workshop will provide insights into how businesses can thrive whilst working towards becoming net zero.
This event is open to all businesses based in the Black Country with an interest in becoming more resilient, energy efficient and reducing their carbon footprint.
The team that led the ‘Repowering the Black Country’ and ‘West Midlands Energy Taskforce’ projects will be presenting the workshop. Expert speakers will be sharing knowledge and advice on energy costs, decarbonisation and energy efficiency.
The team will also discuss the opportunities that the transition to net zero presents for Black Country businesses.
Reasons to attend the decarbonisation workshop:
Learn about the latest government support: funding and free energy assessment programmes
Gain knowledge: access valuable insights to help empower your business to navigate the complex landscape of sustainable practices and make informed decisions
Help shape national conversations: discover how you can get involved in the Black Country Industrial Cluster – a platform for your voice to be heard at national forums
Network with industry leaders: connect with like-minded professionals, industry experts, and influencers who share your commitment to a sustainable, decarbonised and resilient future.
Through its #Pledge2Invest campaign, Sandwell College is encouraging employers to invest in their workforce and community.
Sandwell College is the West Midlands’ largest provider of 16-19 study programmes. As the video below explains, the college is asking local businesses to #Pledge2Invest: commit to at least one of three investments in order to improve the life chances of people in our communities.
Would you #Pledge2Invest by:
Offering an apprenticeship
Upskilling existing staff
Offering a work placement?
Employers and entrepreneurs also have opportunities to come and speak to its students and inspire the next generation.
Improving life chances
The external engagement team at the college will collaborate with employers to offer operational support, and to advise on training options. Sandwell College also offers a free recruitment service for local businesses that want to take on new staff.
Sandwell College’s aim through #Pledge2Invest is to work with local businesses to help grow a talented workforce of the future. This will ultimately improve the life chances of people across the region.
Investing in your workforce is one of the most effective ways to nurture a thriving business. Alongside #Pledge2Invest from Sandwell College, learn about support available from Sandwell Council on our skills and training page.
The NatWest Accelerator programme is now open for applications for the March 2024 cohort. The programme offers support to entrepreneurs and SMEs. It helps businesses to scale to the next level.
The NatWest Accelerator programme provides fully funded coaching and mentoring specifically designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs who want to grow their business, regardless of geographic location or sector.
Accelerator wrap-around support
NatWest recognises that every business owner is different and that the motivations for scaling a business can vary greatly. It also understands the power of being surrounded by a network of like minded individuals and specialists.
The programme is free and specialises in wrap-around support. It provides:
One-to-one coaching with acceleration managers
A programme of thought leadership and events
Access to a network of like-minded peers, supported by Natwest ecosystem managers
Focused support with access to experts from every sector
The use of modern co-working spaces in one of Natwest’s nationwide hubs.
Programme timeline
The programme starts with an IGNITION event in the week commencing Monday 11 March 2024 and extends over six months with fortnightly events, opportunities and monthly one-to-one, peer-to-peer and group coaching sessions.
There is an option to reapply for up to eighteen months of support in total, with the first six months open to non-NatWest group customers.
Applications for this intake will close on Friday 16 February. Interviews will take place throughout the entire application window. Places are limited.
NatWest is holding some application discovery events for potential applicants. To find out more about the Accelerator programme and better understand what’s on offer attend either an online or a face to face event at your local Accelerator Hub.
For Sandwell businesses the closest hub is in Birmingham and discovery events are taking place every couple of weeks from Tuesday 12 December. Find out more and register via Eventbrite.
To apply for a place on the Accelerator programme use link below then complete the short application form. Visit the NatWest website to find out about eligibility criteria, and terms and conditions.
Another opportunity: Clean Transport Specialist Accelerator
Transport is the largest carbon emitting sector in the UK, accounting for more than a quarter of emissions. The sector is therefore critical to climate strategy and achieving net zero goals through to 2050.
NatWest is working with the University of Warwick to create a Clean Transport Specialist Accelerator, combining coaching, thought leadership, community and access to networks with specialist support from members of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
Entrepreneurs will gain a unique opportunity to remove barriers, improve connectivity and receive support in realising their ambitions around clean transport.
To find out more about the clean transport accelerator, download the flyer below:
Visit our Sandwell Start-Up Hub if you are an aspiring entrepreneur or you have a growing business in Sandwell. Find out about the Sandwell Business Boost growth support we’re currently offering to your business.
Women Wellbeing Hub in partnership with ACP is holding a menopause awareness session at our Sandwell Start-Up Hub on Friday 15 December. Come and get equipped with knowledge and tools to support you during this transformative life stage.
A Wellbeing Engagement Officer/Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner will lead this menopause awareness session. They are from the Women Wellbeing Hub in partnership with ACP. Together you will explore physical, emotional and professional impacts of menopause, and get practical tips to prepare for or manage the transition.
Covering everything from common symptoms to lifestyle changes, the session will give you valuable insights to enhance wellbeing and productivity.
Whether you’re working for an organisation, self employed, seeking work, volunteering or running a business, this event is for you. Learn how to cultivate a supportive environment that values and empowers women experiencing menopause.
The event takes the form of a talk and networking (12 noon to 1pm), followed by a light lunch. It’s free to attend. See our Sandwell Start-Up Hub page for information about parking and access to the venue. Why not come and work from the Hub for the rest of the day?
VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund is supporting this menopause awareness training. This is a collaboration between the Department of Health & Social Care, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency.
Sandwell Council is carrying out further consultation with the public on how to make savings to its budget over the coming years. As a Sandwell-based business representative, don’t forget to have your say in the online survey.
Sandwell Council held an initial budget consultation earlier this year. Now it is inviting residents, businesses and voluntary organisations to take part in a further consultation on areas where the council can save money.
Sandwell Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Bob Piper said: “The council is facing similar pressure to residents from inflation and rising costs. The cost of living emergency is also creating more demand for some council services. This means that we need to make difficult decisions when the council sets its budget.
Making choices about delivering services
“We currently spend around £317 million each year on our day-to-day services, such as bin collections, street cleansing, running libraries and leisure centres. And around 60 per cent of our budget funds vital services for adult social care and looking after vulnerable children. We must meet our legal requirements, but we can make choices in how we deliver some of these services.
“Sandwell is no different to other councils – we all face significant financial pressures. Although we are in a fortunate position to have options to achieve a balanced budget, this still means we need to make difficult decisions. We need to use our limited resources as efficiently as we can, which means we have to work even harder to continue to deliver services and make the money go further for the years ahead.
“In the past two years, the council has worked hard to make savings of over £30 million.
“The council must make savings of £13 million to ensure we can balance our budget for the next financial year (2024/25). The majority of these savings must be sustainable – so we can continue make these savings over the coming years, not just next year.”
Understanding residents’ priorities
The council’s initial 2024/25 budget consultation, that took place over the summer, saw residents rank their priorities for how the council could achieve savings or increase income, as follows:
Selling or developing council buildings
Stopping or reducing non-essential services
Charging more for some paid-for services
Introducing more charging for non-essential services
Increasing council tax.
This further consultation will ask more questions about the areas where Sandwell Council can make savings.
Councillor Piper added: “It’s important to us that we consult residents on how the council makes these vital savings. When the consultation closes, we will consider the responses we receive and bring a further report back to the council’s cabinet, before setting the council’s budget in early 2024. The council’s budget will, of course, be influenced by the chancellor’s autumn statement in late November and the Local Government Finance Settlement later in the year.”
The consultation closes on Tuesday 2 January 2024.
On Thursday 7 December, the IDC will host a webinar about a new report from UKRI and Innovate UK – ‘Enabling net zero: a plan for UK industrial cluster decarbonisation’.
The report highlights the UK’s potential to harness the power of its industrial clusters. It explores how to drive the next phase of emissions reductions, while contributing to a stronger economy and energy security.
The webinar will give an overview of the report, and discuss the key findings, outcomes and recommendations. There will also be a live Q&A with IDC experts.
Sandwell Council’s planning regeneration team leader, Joshua Singh, has won the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)’s national Young Planner of the Year 2023 award.
Josh received the Young Planner of the Year award last week at the RTPI’s Awards for Planning Excellence.
This national award follows Josh winning the West Midlands Young Planner of the Year in June this year. He was recognised for his commitment to making a difference to Sandwell’s residents and businesses. He was also commended for promoting career opportunities in planning to the region’s young people.
Awards for Planning Excellence
At the recent awards the judges commended Josh’s “outstanding commitment and passion”. They added: “As a role model for future young planners, he will benefit the profession and the communities he works within.”
More recently, Josh was part of the team that secured £67.5m of government Towns Fund investment for Sandwell. He lead specifically on the West Bromwich Town Investment Plan. This resulted in West Bromwich securing £25m of funding for six town centre projects.
Josh joined Sandwell Council in 2010. He worked in several planning areas before securing a permanent position in the planning regeneration team in 2015. He has helped to deliver multiple regeneration projects that have benefited the borough. These include leading on a council programme to tackle ‘grot spots’.
The projects ranged from high street upgrades to sustainable transport, with Josh leading on the Urban Greening programme across the town centre.
Making a difference in Sandwell
In addition to these projects, Josh champions engagement with local schools. He works with the council’s employment team to bring career sessions with professional businesses into primary schools.
He has also helped to establish an educational outreach programme to engage with local college students. His aim is to explain what a career in planning might entail.
Josh said: “I’m extremely proud to have won this award and to have this opportunity to represent young planners from the West Midlands region and across the United Kingdom.
“Working in Sandwell for the past fourteen years and raising a young family as a resident of the borough has made me passionate about delivering regeneration and positive transformation for local communities, residents, businesses and young people across the area.
“Winning this award gives me a platform to share this passion and experience. To put Sandwell on the national and international planning stage, showcasing the influential work we’re doing to raise ambitions and create a new story for Sandwell through regeneration and growth.
“I am very fortunate that Sandwell Council has recognised and supported my career, from starting on the main reception through to leading the council’s planning regeneration team. I have a fantastic team around me, and I thank the team of managers who put me forward for this award. Especially Jenna Langford whose footsteps I am following, as a previous recipient of this award in 2019. Two National Young Planners of the Year from Sandwell – we’re obviously doing something right!”
Support from Sandwell Council
Chief Executive of Sandwell Council, Shokat Lal, added: “Josh’s incredible achievement is well-deserved and testimony to his dedication to the people of Sandwell. It is wonderful that the council has been able to support him throughout his career.
“Josh also personifies the vision and ambition for the council and Sandwell as a thriving borough on a journey towards excellence. Josh is a credit to Sandwell, and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”
The plan updates Sandwell Council’s 2021 Action Plan and sets out our strategy for supporting businesses over the next two financial years, focusing on seven economic priorities:
Support in Sandwell Start Up in Sandwell Grow in Sandwell Invest in Sandwell Innovate in Sandwell Social Value in Sandwell Net Zero in Sandwell.
Sandwell: a great place to do business
As you probably know, Sandwell is a great place to do business. Our borough has a £6.4bn economy, with twice the number of manufacturing firms to the national average. It is home to fast-growing, high-employment, and high-turnover businesses. Sandwell also benefits from six interconnected towns, a tradition of locally focused small businesses and an economy driven by private-sector employment and growth.
More investment is coming to Sandwell. Our regeneration pipeline forecasts £2.9bn of investment by 2027 (see the Regenerating Sandwell website for more information). This brings the opportunity to make real improvements to high streets, public assets, skills provision and transport – all to ‘level up’ the borough.
In addition, Sandwell Council can support our businesses to meet the challenge of economic recovery, the carbon net zero transition, and rapidly changing global and local markets and supply chains.
Resources and expertise
This means focusing on doing the things that the council and partners can do to create the conditions for new jobs and skills, tackling inequality and keeping wealth local. Sandwell is part of the UK’s largest combined authority (the West Midlands Combined Authority), and with a range of partners delivering regional business support, our Sandwell Business Growth Team has the resources and expertise to deliver this plan.
Our overall ambition is to accelerate business growth, creating a wealthier Sandwell, gripping investment opportunities, and addressing long-term economic challenges to achieve our goal of “stronger businesses, thriving communities”.
Come and network at our free business breakfast event on Wednesday 13 December. We’re hosting this at our new Sandwell Start-Up Hub, alongside Sandwell College and the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. It will have a social value focus.
Our third Get Connected in Sandwell event is called ‘Social Value Matters’. Two special guest speakers will talk about the importance and potential impact of social value in our communities, and how it can help your business when bidding for work.
Michael Wragg is our Senior Social Value Officer here on the Business Growth Team. He’ll tell you what social value means for Sandwell.
And Kim Fuller is Growing Participation and Volunteering Mentor at SCVO. Kim will take a practical look at social value, corporate social responsibility, and employer-supported volunteering.
At the free event, you will also learn about funded courses, grants and business support available for your organisation.
Bacon, sausage or veggie option?
You will also get a free breakfast (with bacon, sausage or vegetarian options). And, of course, the opportunity to network with other businesses.
The breakfast event is taking place at Jack Judge House in Oldbury, from 7.30am to 9.30am. There is free parking available nearby in Sainsbury’s car park for a maximum of three hours. (If you need to stay longer, download the Horizon parking app and book your space.)
When you arrive, please enter the building via the rear entrance and press the second floor intercom for a council officer to let you in.
Calling all export-focused, aspirational scale-up businesses in Sandwell. Apply for the Grow Global export programme 2024 and have the chance to join the likes of Monzo, Brompton Bicycles, Mr & Mrs Smithand Bloom & Wildin reaching your global expansion goals.
Grow Global is a fully-funded, twelve-month export initiative for tech businesses looking to scale up. The West Midlands Growth Company and the West Midlands Combined Authority are delivering it, with a unique partnership with London’s investment promotion agency, London & Partners.
Grow Global 2022 was only available to businesses in the capital. Now tech companies in the West Midlands can access the support in 2024.
This is a unique opportunity for innovative, internationally ambitious SMEs from the West Midlands to grow and scale their businesses through export.
Household names
Grow Global has a proven track record of success, having helped over 1,300 scale-ups reach their global expansion goals. These include household names such as Monzo, Brompton Bicycles, Mr & Mrs Smith and Bloom & Wild.
Your Sandwell tech business could be among ten West Midlands businesses selected to benefit from the support in achieving international growth.
To apply for the Grow Global programme, your business must:
Be a West Midlands-based, UK-registered company operating in one of the following sectors:
Business, professional and financial services
Creative and digital technologies
Life sciences
Low carbon
Have at least ten full-time employees
Have UK headquarters, with a primary UK trading address located within the West Midlands areas: Greater Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire or the Black Country
Be ready to begin or scale exporting to international markets
Have a current annual turnover that is greater than £1m and less than £40m. Alternatively, you may have secured £1m of external equity investment.
Be able to clearly demonstrate 20 per cent year-on-year growth with active projects (domestically or internationally).
The Decarbonisation Net Zero Programme is launching with a webinar on Wednesday 15 November. Attend the online event to hear how the programme can give your business information, expert advice, energy audits, support and grants.
The Decarbonisation Net Zero Programme is to help businesses in Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and the Black Country cut down on their carbon emissions and energy costs. The West Midlands Combined Authority is delivering it with support from Aston University, the Black Country Industrial Cluster and Coventry City Council.
It is part of wider West Midlands business support activity, funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Join the team to learn how this government-funded initiative can make a real difference for your business, helping it to become more eco-friendly and financially sustainable.
Learn about:
The support available to businesses
Grant support
Energy audits and how having one could benefit your business
Get a free energy efficiency assessment for your SME. Eligible businesses can then apply for a grant to implement measures to reduce energy demand.
We’re sharing details of a new government-funded scheme that is providing free energy efficiency assessments to SMEs across the Black Country.
As part of the Decarbonisation Net Zero Programme, the scheme aims to help small businesses transition to net zero by improving competitiveness and energy efficiency and enhancing business resilience. It is being delivered in affiliation with the Business Energy Advice Service.
Grant funding
After a free energy efficiency assessment, your eligible business will be able to apply for between £1,000 and £100,000 of 50 per cent net zero grant funding. The funding is available to enable businesses to implement recommended measures to reduce their energy demand and provide energy savings.
These measures could include investment in new machinery and equipment, improved manufacturing processes, or LED lighting and insulation.
Energy intensive engineering
Manufacturing experts will also be delivering specialist assessments for energy intensive engineering firms located across the West Midlands.
Register now for your energy efficiency assessment and subsequent funding
Many SMEs faced challenges last winter with rising energy bills, so don’t miss this opportunity to access support and funding.
The Sandwell Local Plan is a document that plans for the future development of our borough. Sandwell Council would like to know your thoughts on the draft.
In the Sandwell Local Plan, Sandwell Council outlines where it expects to build the new homes we need up to 2041. It shows what land is required to accommodate new jobs.
Sandwell Council is holding a consultation so you can have your say on the sites it has proposed for development. Give your feedback on where development should or shouldn’t take place in Sandwell.
Sandwell Council has identified enough land to build more than 11,000 new homes by 2041. However, this isn’t enough to meet the expected housing needs of our growing population. Around 97 per cent of these homes will be built on previously developed or brownfield land. The Sandwell Local Plan protects the Green Belt and does not propose any new development within it.
The Sandwell Local Plan also sets out how we will address challenges like dealing with climate change, protecting our natural environment, supporting our high streets, and encouraging sustainable travel. It includes policies that will help the council to meet its target to be a carbon-neutral borough by 2041.
Have your say
Don’t miss your chance to have a say!
The consultation is now live and will end on Monday 18 December at 5pm.
All of Sandwell libraries have paper copies of the consultation documents and summary document, if you prefer to access it that way.
Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Peter Hughes, said:
“I would encourage all Sandwell residents and businesses to look at the draft plan and let us have their views on it. This is about our borough’s future so the more people get involved, the better the outcome for all.”
If you have issues accessing the consultation documents, or would like to arrange to speak to a Planning Policy Officer, email Sandwell_LocalPlan@sandwell.gov.uk or call 0121 569 4054.
Join us on Thursday 23 November for Sandwell’s Growth Event at West Bromwich Albion Football Club. We’ll be launching the Sandwell Business Growth Plan alongside Sandwell’s Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies Index.
At the Sandwell’s Growth Event, you can network with likeminded business people and find out how Sandwell Council will be supporting local businesses to grow, thrive and prosper.
We have exciting plans to help you – and this event will tell you more.
About the event
You will hear from some of our borough’s fastest growing businesses and learn how they have achieved their success. We are re-launching our Top 50 report, which charts the 50 fastest growing companies in the borough.
The Sandwell Business Ambassadors will also be there to talk about how they are working with Sandwell Council to support the borough and its businesses. They are a collective of business people using their voices and influence to support Sandwell, its people and communities, and the wider Black Country, to thrive.
On Wednesday 22 November (10am), the Department of Work and Pensions is hosting a webinar to help you become empowered, as an employer, to improvement your recruitment, retention and development of disabled people in your workforce.
It won’t be recorded, so sign up and attend on the day.
On Tuesday 5 December (10am), Thrive at Work is hosting an online ‘Grief in the workplace’ workshop with Cruse Bereavement Support.
The one-hour session (during National Grief Awareness Week) will help to inform how you manage bereavement in the workplace. You will explore how your response to grief can have a positive impact on employee wellbeing.
This week, Sandwell Council welcomed six delegates from Hangzhou in China.
Our guests came as part of a wider four-day, self-funded research trip to the UK. They visited Sandwell to see how a UK local authority functions and how it provides social services for residents. As deputy directors for municipal departments looking after veterans’ services, they especially wanted to learn about veteran welfare services in our area.
In turn, we were keen to build on our established relationship with our Hangzhou visitors’ region of China. We are always looking to raise Sandwell’s international profile and explore further ways to establish cultural, economic and academic links between here and the rest of the world.
About Hangzhou, China
Near to Shanghai, Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province. It borders the Yangtze River and has hills to the west.
The Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone became a national development zone in 1993. It has five pillar industries: machinery and electronics, biology and pharmaceutical, high-tech chemistry, textile and chemical fibre, and food processing.
The visit to Sandwell
The Sandwell Business Growth Team was responsible for hosting our guests’ visit to Sandwell Council. In preparation, we engaged with partner organisations Black Country Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Defence, as well as our council colleagues involved with homes, communities and public health. We also carried out fact funding into local support for ex-force personnel and veterans, to help our visitors get useful information from their visit.
Xu Huashui, Wang Jiang, Xu Jianxiang, Lu Qiliang, Liu Hongyin and Lan Hongxing came to see us at Sandwell Council House on Tuesday 24 October. We hosted them in the Mayor’s Parlour where Shokat Lal, chief executive of Sandwell Council, held a welcome speech. Jenna Langford, our Regeneration Manager, was among the people to make a presentation. She focused on Sandwell Council’s business support, our borough’s regeneration pipeline, and inward investment. We also heard from representatives from the Armed Forces Covenant and Stepway, organisations supporting military veterans in civilian life.
Previous visits from China: a timeline
2015: Sandwell Council welcomed its first Chinese delegation from Pengzhou City.
2016: We had our first visit from delegates from the city of Jinhua. Jinhua Municipal People’s Government Mayor, Ji Junmin, and the Leader of Sandwell Council signed a Friendship Agreement. This is to promote friendly exchanges between the two regions and an exchange of cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports, health and personnel for the good of common prosperity and development.
2017: In May 2017, delegates from the Shanghai municipal government made a visit to the borough.
2018: In 2018 we had a return visit from the city of Jinhua to strengthen our business and friendship links.
2019: In July 2019, Sandwell hosted a visit from two Jinhua schools. St Michael’s CE School in Rowley Regis and one of our Q3 Academies welcomed school children and their teachers. They enjoyed activities together that included a visit to Ingestre Hall Residential Arts Centre and Sandwell Valley Park Farm.
[Feature picture: Xu Huashui from Hangzhou exchanges cultural gifts with Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, Leader of Sandwell Council.]
SWEDA, SEBFWestMids and DCMS are partnering to offer a raft of new support opportunities for social enterprise entrepreneurs in Sandwell and Wolverhampton.
The West Midlands Social Enterprise Boost Fund (SEBFWestMids) is a programme that aims to accelerate social enterprise in the region. The fund offers a range of grants and targeted business support to help new and existing social enterprises start up, scale up and grow.
There are three main strands of support:
Fired Up – a series of sessions for new social entrepreneurs, to answer common questions about organisation structures, markets, costings and stakeholders.
FUSE – a twelve-week course designed to take local entrepreneurs from idea to launch and beyond. It includes masterclasses, confidence building and a live pitch-up event. It will run on Thursdays, from 10am to 1pm, starting on Thursday 11 January 2024.
Social Enterprise MOT – a programme aimed at more established social businesses that are ready to expand. The sessions will cover topics such as business development, people management and governance. The programme will run on Tuesdays, and starts on Tuesday 9 January 2024.
One-to-one support available
SEBFWestMids also offers one-to-one business support, networking opportunities and the chance to apply for up to £10K of grant funding.
