Please join us to network over a light lunch on 27th November at Wolverhampton Science Park and learn more about the business support offer from the Aston Centre for Growth. To book a place please click here

Colleagues from the Centre will outline the varied support available including their Help to Grow: Management Course and Green Advantage Programme, alongside investment ready pitching competitions.

This is part of our commitment to promoting, and connecting Wolverhampton businesses with some of our key regional business support assets. Part of Aston University, Aston Centre for Growth provides leading growth programmes and other practical business support for entrepreneurs, SMEs, and business leaders across the community.

The national Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) is also based at the Centre and run jointly with the University of Warwick. And also based at Aston Business School is the Centre for Research into Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CRÈME) delivering leading expertise on business support for ethnic minority entrepreneurs with recent projects covering financial resilience and scale up challenges. 

The West Midlands Combined Authority, Business Growth West Midlands Team, are planning a West Midlands Business Festival in March next year.  This will be the largest Business Festival ever held in our Region.

WMCA are inviting Businesses to an information event to find out how to host an event during the Festival. Please help us share this information

WMCA is hosting an in-person information session for up to 40 Businesses in Wolverhampton on Tuesday 3rd December where you can find out more about the festival and how your business can be involved.  The information session is taking place at 10.00am at Access to Business, 51 Tempest Street, Wolverhampton, WV2 1AA.  

Please click here to book your place at the information session. Many businesses from across the West Midlands are already applying to host an event next March so please book on the information session to find out more about applying to have your business on the festival map.

n these challenging times, we want to make sure that we focus on what matters most to our business community. We invite local businesses, city workers, visitors and residents to share their views on how the council should prioritise its services for the upcoming year.

Your feedback will help shape our approach to setting the budget, ensuring we address the things that matter most to you.

Complete the survey today and make your voice heard: Budget Consultation

Paper copies will be available this week at our libraries, Family Hubs, and the Civic Centre.

Don't miss your chance – the survey closes on Sunday 12 January.

Thank you for your participation!

Whether you’re launching a new business or developing an existing one, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed. For more information and to sign up please click here

Amongst the various free support you can download a digital marketing template by clicking here

You can now listen to all nine episodes of the latest season of the Small Business Sessions podcast by clicking here . It’s packed with advice and inspiration from brilliant entrepreneurs and experts.

The MTC's Manufacturing Support Services team was created to support the UK’s small and medium manufacturers to address and overcome their engineering challenges, to accelerate performance and improve efficiencies.

Drawing on the extensive resources and expertise at the MTC, its nationwide team of experts support UK manufacturing to embed innovation, accelerate industrial growth and change the way UK small and medium manufacturers compete. Recognising many businesses will benefit from further support to invest, it has access to Innovate UK REACH funding to de-risk the initial investment in their future. For more information please click here 

Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM) organise a programme of business support webinars. Coming up in the next two weeks are the following:

Building your email marketing list

Wednesday 4th December 2024

14:00 - 15:30

Online

Email marketing is a tried and trusted way to make and maintain a connection with your customers and prospects. In a world driven by algorithms, email marketing has the advantage of a recipient choosing whether to open what you create or not. All those opens of your emails are people wanting to hear what you have to say. In this session the focus is on the art of building your email list and increasing the number of people on it so that you can send your messages to a greater number of potential customers. To book a place please click here

Leadership Development: Nurturing Effective Leaders within SMEs

Thursday 5 December 2024

10:00 - 11:30

Online 

Join us for "Leadership Development: Nurturing Effective Leaders within SMEs," a comprehensive course designed for current and aspiring leaders within small to medium-sized enterprises. This session is perfect for small business owners, team leaders, supervisors, department heads, project managers, and emerging leaders. Enhance your leadership skills through tailored content, including leadership styles, team building, communication, strategic decision-making, and more. Learn practical strategies, network with peers, and gain the tools needed to inspire your team and drive organisational success. To book  place please click here

For details of all BGWM events please click here

If you have any queries relating to business support, growing your business, or some of the challenges you are facing, then please call the council's Business Support helpline on 01902 555572 or complete the online enquiry form here

To support your business enquiry and growth our team can conduct a free business diagnostic and connect you quickly to the right support.