Building on a growing portfolio of consultancy work in the West Midlands, GC Business recently supported Staffordshire County Council and the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub on a piece of work looking at the role of the private sector in supporting small businesses.
This follows on from two other research and strategy projects which GC have successfully delivered for the client over the last 12 months. These explored the existing landscape for start-ups, and how the local authority and their partners could strengthen the provision of entrepreneurship/enterprise skills across the county.
The client’s driver for commissioning this work stems from the change in funding for business support activity – which has taken place as a result of the transition from European funding to the UK Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
In response to the challenging economic environment of recent years, there's been an increasing demand from companies seeking help, and for places to achieve greater levels of growth which is greener, fairer, and more inclusive, in a time where there are more cost pressures on local authority funding. Therefore, a fresh approach on how future business support could be funded was required, and GC Business helped the client to better understand this changing landscape and develop a plan with key actions and recommendations they could take forward to strengthen their links with the private sector and leverage future funding.
Earlier this year, GC Business also supported Warwickshire County Council in a consultancy project, as part of their move to UKSPF, and what this meant for the provision of future business support across the county. This involved helping them better understand the challenges and opportunities facing local business, and developing mechanisms for prioritising the key projects and programmes to take forward that'll deliver the best impact, value for money, while aligning with the strategic objectives of the council and their stakeholders.
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