Businesses in south Warwickshire can tap into three new support programmes to help them achieve new levels of growth.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has announced a new partnership with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce to deliver three programmes through the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which will run until March 2024.

They have been designed to help companies across the district look at new opportunities for growth – from overseas trade through to improving their online marketing.

The first programme – Growing Global – will help businesses that are either completely new to exporting or firms which already trade globally but want to access different markets.

The Chamber will provide one-to-one help to the company to help develop its product or service and ensure it is ready for its new marketplace.

The Chamber will also work in partnership with Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust (CWRT) to look at grants and other funding opportunities for companies to make themselves export-ready or to increase their existing export capabilities.

The second support programme, Accelerated Growth, is targeted at Stratford-based businesses that have been trading for more than two years, from a broad range of sectors including professional services, manufacturing & engineering and creative & digital.

Business owners will get access to tailored, one-to-one help from a skilled and experienced business adviser who can support them with everything from strategic and financial planning to marketing and sales.

The objective is to help companies with growth potential to expand more quickly.

The final programme is titled Magnetic Marketing and it will support bricks and mortar retailers with premises across Stratford District to grow their online presence, attract more customers and increase footfall into their stores. 

They will have access to two online workshops as well as one-to-one help from a retail specialist who has successfully run a retail chain of businesses, including in Stratford Town Centre.

The aim is to drive footfall into towns and local centres and bolster business.

Keely Hancox, Head of Operations at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Stratford-on-Avon District Council to be delivering support to a wide range of businesses across the south of Warwickshire.

“The three programmes are all different but all have the aim of supporting businesses to grow which, in turn, will boost the local economy and benefit the area as a whole by creating new jobs and opportunities.

“Each programme is different, but they all include an element of one-to-one support because we are keen to ensure that the help we give to businesses is tailored to them individually to ensure they get the maximum benefit.”

Cllr Susan Juned, Leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council, said: “This funding stream enables the District Council to work with our partner organisations to achieve positive outcomes and benefits for the District and support a programme of business support through different delivery partners.

“We hope to continue business support given in Year 2 for Year 3 of the SPF fund, to help address the variety of different issues businesses are facing moving towards zero carbon operations, helping businesses to become more resilient and also helping to support high growth, research-intensive and technology-based businesses, to help diversify the economy.”

For more information please contact Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on 02476 654321 (option 4) or access: https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/business-support/unlock-the-power-of-growth/ 

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and places, supporting local businesses, and people and skills.

For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.