Attend INclusive Worcestershire's FREE 'Breakfast With' series. These seminars have been catered to support you as you navigate the world of inclusion practice and learn first-hand from global powerhouses, like Amazon and Whitbread, on how to create an inclusive work environment of innovation and success for all employees.

This is an unmissable opportunity to hear best practice, learn from different inclusivity journeys and see how simple steps can transform your business.

Register now for Small Business Britain and BT’s BRAND-NEW Sustainability Programme this September!

Starting on 9 September, the 6-week ‘BT Sustainability for Small Business Programme’ will offer vital training on new and exciting topics, whilst helping you understand the incredible growth opportunities that being a sustainable small business can bring.

Support will be offered to 60 start-up technology businesses through a new partnership between Barclays Eagle Labs and technology incubator BetaDen. 

Businesses who win a place on the programme will be offered workshops and 1:1 specialist support from BetaDen's team of experienced mentors as well as office space in Worcester, networking events and more. 

SkillsBoost Worcestershire is a new programme to help organisations with the costs of upskilling and training their employees.

Worcestershire organisations can claim 50% of the training costs back, up to £6,000, for their Worcestershire based employees. This means that the new funding can allow organisations to upskill or redeploy their employees to maximise their effectiveness.

Businesses of any size and sector are eligible for the programme as long as the employees they are looking to upskill or retrain reside in Worcestershire. The SkillsBoost programme is being delivered in collaboration with Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and Worcestershire Growth Hub.

Funding for the SkillsBoost programme is limited on a first come first served basis and is only available from Tuesday 2 April 2024 until 31 March 2025.

As we head further into the new financial year this is a good time to access business support, as there are a number of new business support, grants and other funding available. 

Local businesses are being encouraged to contact the Worcestershire Growth Hub team to find out how their growth could be supported. There is support available for businesses looking to upskill or train their staff, businesses looking to access specialist expert advice, funding for growth ambitions and much more.

Alongside this, organisations can also find out about all of the upcoming business support events via the Worcestershire Growth Hub’s events calendar. 

Contact the Worcestershire Growth Hub team on the details below:

Call – 01905 677888

Email – info@worcestershiregrowthhub.co.uk

Tickets are now on sale for the Chamber Business awards, taking pace on 13 June 2024. Tickets include a three course meal, drinks, professional photography and more. 

The awards will be hosted at Worcester Arena and there are a total of 15 awards categories such as Best Use of Technology and Trends and Commitment to the Community. 

Nominated Malvern based businesses include: Indra Renewable Technologies, OLPRO, Malvern Panalytical and Lucart Hygiene Ltd.

Grant funding is available to help Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to implement energy saving initiatives including LED lighting, heating and insulation and renewables. The initiative aims to support SMEs to make the transition towards a sustainable and low-carbon future. Malvern Hills businesses can apply for between £1,000 and £8,000.

Grants are awarded on a match-funded basis, meaning the SME will need to provide at least 60% of the total cost of the project.

Net Zero Worcestershire also offers free Decarbonisation Reviews.

Net Zero Worcestershire is one of the new business support programmes part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Malvern Hills District Council and Worcestershire County Council.

SME businesses can get money off installing electric vehicle charging points and supporting infrastructure for their staff and company vehicles. 

This funding is available until April 2025 and can be used to cover up to 75% of the cost of wider building and installation work that’s needed to install multiple chargepoint sockets.

Malvern Hills Businesses continue to benefit the Malvern Hills Upskilling Grant. 

The grant scheme provides funding of up to £1,500 to help with the business cost of training new staff (i.e. apprenticeships, trainee or other). In order to qualify businesses must be based in the Malvern Hills district postcode area, employ fewer than 250 people and pay at least the Minimum Wage to the trainee for a post of at least 30 hrs a week including training leading to a recognised qualification.

£500 is available to trainees and apprentices to help cover the cost of travel, equipment, tools and clothing necessary to access training.

The support is available to residents of Malvern Hills District who:

• Earn less than £250 per week.
• Attend a qualifying course.
• Are employed for a post of 30 hours a week for a minimum of 12 months.

Please spread the word that this support is available. 

Join Worcestershire County Council for their next Business Worcestershire Conference, focussed around Net Zero & Sustainability. 

Hear from four expert speakers on topics such as how to become a B-Corp organisation and thinking outside the Net Zero box.

Following the success of their previous SEO and Google algorithm updates workshop, BetaDen are reprising the event. 

BetaDen will let you in on all the important changes to the Google Search Engine and how they could affect your business. They will also discuss how to form an effective digital marketing strategy and incorporate SEO.

FREE workshop from 10 - 11:30am at Malvern Hills Science Park. 

This Business Worcestershire Conference is focused on Sales, Marketing & Growth, all of which are key topics for businesses of all sizes and sectors.

Hear from five expert speakers on topics such as how to implement a new marketing strategy, strategies to financing business growth and how to enhance your digital marketing.

The conference opens at 8am for networking over breakfast before the presentations begin at 9am.

BIPC Worcestershire has plenty of support and webinars for businesses of any size, follow the link below for the full programme. 

• Join the Malvern Library Business Breakfast from 8am followed by the Business Support Drop-in Clinic from 10am on 6 June 2024.
• On Demand Webinar: "Can you overcome imposter Syndrome?".