First published in the Worcester News on 22 April 2016
It was great to see so many businesses at the WLEP’s Business Planning workshop last week. Thank you to all who participated – there were some great discussions and feedback is being incorporated into our future plans. For those who were unable to attend, there are still many opportunities to get involved and so please do get in touch with the team.
It is a pleasure this week to welcome our new Business Board Members: Stuart Allen, Founder and Managing Director of #WorcestershireHour (Worcester Enterprise Ltd), Jennifer Appleton, Operations Director of ISO Quality Services Ltd., Robert Champion, Partner at Halls, James Pritchard, Managing Director of Heartbeat Manufacturing Limited and James Speller, Pre Construction Director at Speller Metcalfe and I look forward to working with you all.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Roy Irish from Financial Partnership and Support, Jacqui Bayliss from Harris Lamb, Bob Brown from the Institute of Directors and Zad Padda from Vicarage Nurseries, who stepped down having served their term on the Business Board and whose contributions have been significant.
This week has also been ‘Exporting is GREAT week’ which acts to shine the spotlight firmly on the wealth of support available from UKTI for businesses looking to grow their business overseas and I would encourage you to find out more about the support you can access.
Also, do keep updated on funding available. The Worcestershire Growth Fund, which supports businesses to expand, is open for Expressions of Interest until 13 May 2016. Three rounds of European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) are also open until 27 May around information and communications technology, environment and resource efficiency and SME Business Support and so do ensure you submit applications in good time. To find out more, visit www.wlep.co.uk or follow @WorcsLEP and remember for all business support including funding opportunities, Worcestershire.Business.Central. can provide advice and guidance.