Video Transcript
Hello and welcome to the June edition of the Worcestershire Growth Hub newsletter. As we head into the summer period and it looks like the weather is finally starting to take a turn for the better. At long last, I hope you are looking forward to some well-deserved time away from the office. The Growth Hub team continues to engage with local businesses, helping them to find and access local support, grants, networking and funding opportunities.
Earlier this month, the Growth Hub sponsored the Micro Business of the year at the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce Awards for 2024. It was a great event, thoroughly enjoyable evening. And I’d just like to reiterate our congratulations to the winners, Veg Life, as well as the highly commended Fresh Nous as well. Well done. It was a tough competition, a lot of strong entries, and we look forward to supporting in 2025 again.
First up, this month I’d like to remind businesses about the Inclusive Worcestershire Online seminar series. If you haven’t registered yet, there is still time to join the last two seminars of this initiative to learn more about how adopting an inclusive approach within your business can help with the development of your workforce. The links to both events can be found within the newsletter.
Sticking with the workforce theme, Worcestershire County Council, in collaboration with the LEP and the Growth Hub are inviting local businesses to have their say in a short survey and share insights on workplace values. These results will help to inform a program of work with schools and young people to better equip them with the skills and values needed to enter the world of work. To have your say. Please use the link in the newsletter and help ensure young people leaving education are equipped with the workplace values and skills that you need and expect.
Worcestershire businesses can now register their interest to access a new workforce planning platform. This free to use platform has been developed to help local employers initiate and improve their workforce planning efforts, and equip them for future success. Businesses can register at any time and use the tool to help them create workforce plans at their own pace and monitor their progress. Find out more about the platform through the link in the newsletter.
Next up, a reminder that there is roughly one month left to submit your entries for the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards 2024. This is a special year for the Worcestershire Apprenticeships program, as it celebrates ten years of promoting the apprenticeships pathway and how successful it has been for individuals and employers. The deadline for submissions is the 19th of July and we recommend you get involved.
Finally, this month, for those businesses seeking opportunities for corporate social responsibility, there is a new offer to highlight. The County Council are working in partnership with the Worcestershire Community Foundation to develop a community grant scheme. Worcestershire County Council has committed £100,000, and the Worcestershire Community Foundation are aiming to at least match from this for community based projects. Key themes for the grant will be the cost of living, food and fuel poverty, reducing social isolation and loneliness, and supporting unpaid carers amongst others. For more information, please see the article in the newsletter and we’d welcome your support in promoting this amongst your business networks.
I hope you enjoyed reading this month’s update and remember, the Growth Hub is the first point of contact for businesses across the county and aims to support all types of businesses in Worcestershire, regardless of their size or sector. To find out more about the support available for your business, please visit our website or contact the team today. Thank you.
