New enterprise providers promise to boost West Midlands’ start-up rates

The West Midlands’ rise up the UK’s entrepreneurial league table gathered pace today, with Business Link West Midlands unveiling its specialist enterprise providers for the region. Tasked with helping to create over 2250 new companies this year and adding £75m to the local economy, Enterprise Central, Business Insight, Black Country Small Business Service, Business Enterprise Support and Eastern Region Enterprise Consortium will be responsible for delivering expert advice and guidance to potential entrepreneurs and dynamic young companies.

The announcement, which coincides

with the organisation’s 5th month anniversary, is another welcome boost and will provide the most flexible and specialist support ever given in a bid to boost start-ups and improve survival rates. “It is common knowledge that, as a region, we need to create a more dynamic enterprise culture and this is another important step down the line to achieving it,” explained Jill Parker, Enterprise Director at Business Link West Midlands. “In layman’s terms we want to give everyone in the region, who is serious about starting a business, the chance to do so by listening to their requirements, providing the right advice when they need it and making sure we follow them from that ‘germ’ of an idea to when they start trading and even into their 25th anniversary. Quite simply, we have to boost survival rates to 75%.

“We can’t make decisions for entrepreneurs, but what we can do is get rid of the bureaucracy and traditional framework and replace it with the best advisers, the best consultants and the best development opportunities.” Each of the specialist providers has been selected for their proven track record in delivering support, with the five organisations already helping 20,000 entrepreneurs realise their commercial dreams.

They have also demonstrated an ability to call upon a network of expertise and an innovative approach to engaging and assisting the key target groups of ethnic, female, rural, social and young enterprises. Jill went on to add: “The key to success will be local knowledge and local delivery and this will be reflected in the way we work with Enterprise Central and Business Insight (Birmingham and Solihull), Black Country Small Business Service (Black County), Business Enterprise Support (Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire) and the Eastern Region Enterprise Consortium (Staffordshire and Coventry and Warwickshire).