Video Transcript
Hello and welcome to the June edition of the Worcestershire Business Support Newsletter.
I’m pleased to report that the local business support offer for this year has now been finalised, and the details are in the public domain. On the 15th of June, we delivered an event in partnership with Worcestershire County Council to launch the new business support programs and grants for 2026/27. For those of you that weren’t able to make it, fear not. Simply reach out to the growth team, give them a call and they can talk you through all of the new support offers and help you find the best support for your business growth ambitions.
I’d like to highlight that the Growth Hub will be delivering an event in July to help businesses understand the new changes to various ISO policies. Changes have been announced, and with the growing adoption of AI and the new ISO policy for AI, this is a great chance for businesses to hear from experts and understand how you can be at the forefront of adapting to the changes. More details on the event can be found in the newsletter.
On the 8th of July we will be running the Keep Herefordshire and Worcestershire Working Conference in partnership with our colleagues in Herefordshire. This event will help businesses to understand how they can keep their staff happy, healthy and in work. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the importance of keeping staff healthy, and the local and national support and guidance that is available to help businesses. This is the last chance to book with a limited number of spaces remaining.
The 8th of July is proven to be a popular date, as it also marks the day when Catalyse Angel Network will deliver their next investor pitching event. The Catalyse Angel Network has already seen fantastic success in its first two pitching events, with over £235,000 of investment offered to founders so far. If you’re a founder looking to raise investment for your business or a keen investor looking to support local business growth, make sure to contact the Catalyse Angel network team via the newsletter to get involved.
And sticking with the Catalyse Angel network. It’s also worth mentioning that our Women in Technology and Innovation community delivered an event last month in partnership with Catalyse Network to raise awareness and support the growth of more female investors and founders. This is a brilliant event with discussions around how best to support more female investors and founders to help us grow that diversity. Once again, if you know of anyone that would benefit from this initiative, please make them aware and signpost them our way.
Finally for innovation updates this month, a reminder. BetaDen, the county’s award winning technology accelerator, has recently launched its latest offering of a new digital and AI bootcamp to support local businesses. The Boot Camp is a 12 week program specifically targeted to scale digital businesses across Worcestershire, offering practical support in key areas including AI strategy and implementation, cyber security, innovation, coaching, marketing and investment readiness amongst many other topics. Participants will also receive dedicated pitch training with the opportunity to refine their proposition in front of experienced professionals and to be introduced to an active angel investor network. Applications are now open with deadline for submissions closing on the 7th of July. Spaces are limited, so please make sure to contact the Growth Hub team to find out more.
And as a final call to action this month, the deadline to enter or nominate for the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards is fast approaching on the 17th of July. I’d strongly encourage any employers with apprentices to make sure you get your organisation and apprentices entered for the awards. It’s a fantastic celebration of all things apprenticeships and provides a great piece of recognition and profile for both organisations and individuals. Please follow the link in the newsletter to find out more.
As always, there’s lots more in the newsletter, so please take the time to have a look and don’t hesitate to reach out to the team for further information to help your business. We’ll see you next time.
