Mayor launches plan to help businesses unlock investment and drive growth
Businesses will get more streamlined access to the financial support they need to grow their operations and create new jobs, Richard Parker, mayor of the West Midlands, has announced.
Speaking at the launch of his Access to Finance Plan in Birmingham, the Mayor warned that the region was missing out on millions in private sector investment for start-ups and established small and mid-sized companies.
He said many businesses do not know where to go for finance or how to make the right pitch, while others prefer self-funding or short-term grants rather than pursuing real growth.
The plan is part of the mayor’s wider mission to fire up the region’s economy and accelerate growth.
The mayor said: “I know from the businesses I visit every day that many share my impatience for growth, which must be our number one priority. We’ve got businesses growing faster here than anywhere in the country, and I want more firms to join in that success. The biggest risk isn’t investing in growth, it’s standing still.
“We need to make the most of the opportunities on offer so we can take our innovators, entrepreneurs and hardworking business owners to the next level. My Access to Finance Action Plan will do that.
“It’s been written alongside some of the region’s most successful business figures and will make the whole system much easier to navigate. If we get it right, we’ll unlock the new investment needed to drive my Growth Plan, bringing tens of thousands of new jobs, higher wages and a better quality of life for everyone.”
The plan was developed by a task and finish group made up of members of the mayor’s Growth Taskforce.
Chair of the group, Steve Rigby, the CEO of Rigby Group, said: “The goal is to ensure our region offers the best support for home grown companies to achieve their aspirations. Access to finance facilitates expansion, growth and acquisition. Working alongside an advisory board, we have created a strategy to expand the availability of all types of equity and finance.”
The action plan will be delivered by a revamped Business Growth West Midlands. Its dedicated Business Growth Capital team will work with hundreds of high-growth companies to get them investment ready and then connect them with a range of funders including corporate finance, angel investors and private equity.
The Mayor has kicked off the Plan by approving a £2m investment by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) into Midlands Mindforge, an equity investment company dedicated to supporting university spinouts and other science and technology businesses in the West and East Midlands.
Midlands Mindforge has also secured initial investment from Claire Ward, mayor of the East Midlands, through the East Midlands County Combined Authority, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Rigby Group and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) via the Invest in UK University R&D – Midlands Campaign.
The first investments from Midlands Mindforge will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Access to Finance Action plan was launched by the mayor at the Business Growth Service Roadshow on Thursday, 18 June, at Austin Court in Birmingham. The event was run by the Department for Business and Trade and the West Midlands Growth Company
Find out more about support available to SMEs at www.businessgrowthwestmidlands.org.uk.