Business growth scheme invests £1 million into West Midlands economy…
A programme aimed at helping hundreds of businesses has delivered over £1.4 million in grants to help them grow, making significant impact on the West Midlands economy.
Managed by Birmingham City Council’s Business Development and Innovation Team, the Business Development Programme (BDP) will help create more than 420 jobs across the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area, as part of the scheme.
Part of the programme is the financial assistance scheme which provides match grant funding of up to £15,000 for Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), that have been trading for more than six months and have expansion plans ready to implement that will safeguard existing jobs or create new ones.
The programme – funded through the European Regional Development Fund – runs until June 2015 and businesses in Birmingham, Cannock, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, North Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Redditch, Wyre Forest), Solihull and Tamworth can still apply.
Councillor Tahir Ali, cabinet member for Development Jobs and Skills at Birmingham City Council, said: “I am delighted that over 100 applications have now been processed and approved, which equates to more than £3.7million in grants and match funding – and importantly will create over 420 new jobs across the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area.
“This is testament to the hard work being undertaken by the programmes partners across the region. Businesses tell us time and again that access to finance is a key issue for them, so the City Council and its partners are directly helping them address that.”
As well as the financial assistance scheme, an intensive coaching and mentoring scheme for businesses has launched. The great200leaders scheme includes 100 hours of leadership development, delivered over a 12 month period in 10 peer group workshops. Each workshop is headed by an inspirational expert speaker and each participant receives £4,000 funding towards the cost. This programme is aimed at 200 ambitious business owners and directors, to deliver personal performance and business growth.
For more information about the programme please visit http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/bdp or to apply for the coaching and mentoring programme visit: http://www.winningmoves.com/G200L
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