'These hubs are playing an essential role in breaking down barriers,' Mayor says as he backs business support hubs in ethnically diverse communities
A network of business support hubs that have helped grow 300 companies in some of the region’s most ethnically diverse communities is to expand with new funding from the Mayor of the West Midlands.
Two new Community Business Growth Hubs have opened at Colebridge Trust in Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, and The Savoy Centre in Netherton, Dudley, run by Black Country Housing Group in partnership with SWEDA (Skills Work and Enterprise Development Agency).
They will give local entrepreneurs the advice and funding they need to secure new investment, win more business and create jobs in their communities.
The support is also being extended to disabled and female-led businesses, and those in deprived neighbourhoods.
The new hubs aim to build on the success of the first five launched by Mayor Richard Parker last year in Coventry, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, with two in Birmingham, as part of his Growth Plan to fire up the regional economy and raise living standards.
Businesses like Wolverhampton-based Lumak Services are among those benefitting from the expert advice available. Lumak was set up as a cleaning company by Lucia Makono before expanding into community care services.
The support Lucia has had from the hub in Wolverhampton, run by Access to Business, has helped her win new council contracts, boosting turnover and growing her workforce from 15 to 50 people. The business has also moved into its first dedicated premises.
Lucia said: “The support I received from the Access to Business hub has been invaluable.
"It has helped me understand my finances better, opened new opportunities for contracts, and supported me in finding premises so my business can continue to grow. I am truly grateful for the guidance and the doors it has opened for Lumak Services Ltd.”
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Lumak Services is one of thousands of small businesses that together are the engine room of our economy. With the right support they are not just surviving, they’re thriving.
“Lucia’s determination to succeed has been matched by the expertise in her local business hub, bringing good jobs and real hope to a community that may once have felt left behind – but not anymore.
“No one should be held back from fulfilling their potential, least of all because of their race, identity or background. These hubs are playing an essential role in breaking down barriers and unlocking the entrepreneurial spirit of leaders like Lucia, so more of our people and places can feel the benefit as we get our economy firing on all cylinders again.”
The West Midlands is one of the UK’s most ethnically diverse regions with the most recent Census data showing almost half the population is now non-White British.
Figures show people from ethnic communities are twice as likely to start a business but less than half of them survive long enough to become income generating – compared to two thirds of white-owned companies.
Research also shows female led and disabled led entrepreneurs are similarly less likely to access funding and growth support.
The region’s seven Community Business Growth Hubs are funded by the Mayor and run with trusted community organisations, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM), and the region’s Race Equalities Taskforce.
They provide one-to-one expert advice, workshops and networking events, and direct links into regional and national support and funding programmes, as well as providing much-needed investment in the community locations in which they are based.
Sureya Gulzar, head of social business at Black Country Housing Group, said: “We are committed to supporting the growth of local people and local business.
“We are pleased to be working in partnership with SWEDA to establish the Dudley Community Business Hub at the Savoy Centre in Netherton, this important initiative supported by BGWM will ensure local business leaders have the support they need to grow and contribute to the local economy and beyond.”
For more information about the Community Business Hubs and other support SMEs can get through Business Growth West Midlands visit www.businessgrowthwestmidlands.org.uk/.
