North Warwickshire opportunities discussed at Chamber event

Companies in North Warwickshire have been told how they can benefit from grant and business support to help drive their growth plans.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce held a networking event at Atherstone Golf Club where firms of all sizes and sectors got the chance to discuss potential business opportunities with one another.

The event was teed off by MP Craig Tracey and businesses also heard from Helena Bassett and Arpinder Bansi, of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, on the support available both for established businesses and for those starting up under the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund with further support from Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council. The Warwickshire start-up programme is funded by Warwickshire County Council and the district and borough councils.

Helena said: “The Chamber can offer support in a whole host of ways and it’s important that we continue to get that message out there.

“One of the topics we touched upon was the grant support that’s on offer to companies of all sizes and sectors.

“Of course, we have to caveat that by saying that there are always criteria to be met and terms and conditions to adhere to, but if businesses are investing in their growth, there is very often help available.

“In the past 12 months, we’ve helped companies access grants on everything from extensions and fit outs through to new machinery and equipment to help them grow.

“We’ve also helped several businesses access grants of up to £50,000 towards the costs of new premises.

“Further to that, businesses can benefit from one-to-one coaching through to help with business planning in order to aid their growth – they just need to ask.

“Support is there for established companies that want to grow but Arpinder also outlined the help that’s available to individuals who want to start their own business from scratch or those businesses in their first year of trading.”

Craig Tracey said it was vital the companies made use of the help on offer.

He said: “It’s great to hear that the support is available and that it’s for start-up and established companies.

“Once companies get started, it’s very important that they are given the help they need to scale up so they can make an even greater contribution to the economy and, hopefully, become the big businesses of the future.”

For more information on support from the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce call 024 7665 4321 option Business Support, email supportyourbusiness@cw-chamber.co.uk orlog onto www.cw-chamber.co.uk

The Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme is receiving £6.3 million of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for the ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF, funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding