Information for current, new and potential businesses within Wolverhampton.
We’re determined to keep Wolverhampton’s business community vibrant and resilient by working with our local businesses and their employees, those who are self-employed, and those looking to start a business.
Here you will find support and guidance if you want to:
- Grow your business
- Start a new business
- Recruit staff
- Find business property
- Get support with procurement processes and opportunities
- Develop new products and services
- Find networking opportunities
- and much more!
If you have a specific enquiry please use the contact form at the bottom of this page. For general information on support available please see the tabs below.
We are also seeking your views to develop the City of Wolverhampton Council’s future economic strategy. Please see the tab below to read the draft strategy and to make your comments and views known.
Award winning Business Support
City of Wolverhampton Council has just been awarded a prestigious ‘best in the region’ award for its support for the local small business community.
Wolverhampton was among 250 councils in England who entered the inaugural England-wide Local Government awards run by Britain’s biggest business representation group, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), and it emerged triumphant in the Future Ready regional category.
Local authorities from all across England responded to the call when FSB launched their inaugural Local Government awards, sponsored by Maybe*, which were aimed at celebrating and recognising those that had made the biggest impact on local SMEs during the Covid crisis and beyond. And Wolverhampton was named as the West Midlands regional champion winners with judges being impressed by the council’s work to help the local small business community by putting in place a series of measures aimed at helping small businesses to survive, revive and thrive after arguably the toughest two and half years of trading.
Richard Lawrence, Director of Regeneration, said:
"Our Relight Business Programme has supported around 200 sole traders, micro and small businesses. Following our work delivering the Covid grant support programme, we wanted to give local businesses the tools and knowledge to build resilience during the pandemic and grow as the economy opened back up. We did this by running a series of webinars, funded FSB and Chamber membership, carrying out financial and digital reviews as well as business diagnostics, and providing access to a grant to implement recommendations from the reviews. Supporting fantastic local businesses in our city is one of our key priorities as a council and we will continue to do this through projects like our Relight Business Programme."
FSB Development Manager for Staffordshire and the West Midlands, Karen Woolley said:
"It is really pleasing to see the City of Wolverhampton Council rewarded for its hard work and effort to help local SMEs through what has been a very challenging couple of years. Both the quality and quantity of entries from this region and beyond was incredibly high so Wolverhampton should feel very proud to be among the winners. We look forward to continuing to work with them - and all our other business-supporting councils - to ensure we have a vibrant and strong local SME community."
Workshops
The following workshops and webinars are run in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Investment Readiness: Workshop for Wolverhampton Businesses
Date: 31st January 2024, 10.00am – 1.00pm
Venue: SPEED, University of Wolverhampton Science Park, Technology Centre PA104 Glaisher Drive, Wolverhampton, WV10 9RU
These free interactive taster sessions will give an overview of the funding options available to businesses and help to demystify the world of funding your business, including:
- Debt finance & understanding interest rates
- Alternative Finance
- Grant funding – is it free?
- Crowdfunding – reward, social and equity
- Angel Investment & Venture Capital – when is it right for you?
- The importance of creating a Pitch Deck or a Business Plan
- Financial forecasting and why it’s the narrative you need
Further support will be delivered by the Access to Finance team through a combination of workshops, masterclasses and one-to-one mentoring by finance specialists, all of whom have years of experience in unlocking funding and helping firms grow.
Here you can find more information and register for the workshop.
Register for the workshop here
RENEWABLE ENERGY – What are the costs and what are the savings
Date: 6th February 2024, 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Venue: Online
Join this webinar to learn more about renewable energy options for small and medium-sized businesses.
We will discuss how solar PV work, how much they cost, and what kind of savings businesses in the West Midlands and Warwickshire can expect in terms of both carbon and money. We will also present information about grant funding opportunities for businesses based in West Midlands .
Unlocking Apprenticeship Opportunities
Date: 7th February 2024, 10.30am - 11.00am
Venue: Online
Ever thought about hiring an apprentice but never had the support or the know-how to start?
Thrive at Work is pleased to host this 30-minute session during National Apprenticeship Week, informing you on how to source, fund, and work with your apprentice to develop a workforce with future-ready skills.
The session will be led by David Tomalin from West Midlands Combined Authority and Sian Roberts from Black Country Chamber of Commerce, who will run this session. During this session, you will gain an understanding of:
- Navigating Apprenticeship Basics: Understand apprenticeships and how they work.
- Finding Support for Recruitment: Discovering resources and avenues for recruiting apprentices.
- Tailoring Apprenticeships to Your Needs: Understanding how apprenticeships can align with your organisation's requirements.
- How easy is it to hire an Apprentice: Sian Roberts from the Black Country Chamber of Commerce shares their experience
This session will include a 25 minute presentation and a 5 minute Q&A. Here you can find more information about the Thrive at Work Wellbeing Programme.
Case Studies
Over the past 12 months we have worked with hundreds of local companies providing direct support, advice information and guidance. Here are some of those that we have supported through a capital grant on the ERDF AIM for GOLD Programme.
AGTV Ltd
AGTV is a local independent broadcasting and media production company who has worked with a range of sporting companies including Wolverhampton Wanderers. Earlier this year they joined the Black Country AIM for GOLD programme and worked with City Council Officers to secure a grant to help purchase new equipment.
Alex Gage, owner of the business added,
“What I can say is that the grant allowed me to ensure that my company was able to remain competitive at the very top end of my industry. The purchased kit put me in position to compete for many jobs, at all levels of production”.
Aldridge Trimming
Aldridge Trimming Ltd is an Employee Owned business based in the heart of Wolverhampton and have been trimming classic cars since 1931. Over the years the business has expanded and evolved. They have gained a world-wide reputation for high quality British craftsmanship, supplying the major Jaguar, Ford and Triumph restoration companies around the world.
The company was started in a shed in 1931 by Don Newcombe, he provided a general trimming service for cars and coaches. In the Eighties it was taken over by his grandson, Simon Aldridge, who had helped his grandfather since 1963 during his time at school.
Aldridge Trimming has always catered for classic cars, but moved into the mail order market in 1980 after Simon purchased a Jaguar E-type and needed parts for it. It was when Simon started making new trim for his car that he realised there was a big market for replacement interiors that customers could order via phone or internet, and be shipped straight to their door.
The company’s latest growth plans were based on investing in a Low-Pressure Polyurethane Dispensing Machine, otherwise known as a foam making machine. This machine has provided the innovation for Aldridge Trimming Ltd make the foam for all makes of classic cars. It has also helped in reducing costs, improving production time, increasing efficiency, and allowing the company to increase its product range. It also allows for expansion into other industries that are not necessarily car-related. A successful £10,000 AIM for GOLD grant supported by the City Council has enabled the company to make the full £33,000 investment in the new machine.
Simon Aldridge , owner of Aldridge Trimming Ltd, commented, “We have again had a positive experience dealing with the City Council and have had the same high standard of service as on previous grant programmes. The machine has been a fantastic addition to the company. In truth it has delivered more than we were initially hoping for, it has reduced our lead-times and our dependence on unreliable suppliers. We have created jobs as a result of this and have also massively increased the range of products that we offer. We are looking forward to working with Wolverhampton Council again in the future.”
Ceandess
Ceandess (Wolverhampton) Ltd has been operating in Wolverhampton since 1924 and is a well-established manufacturing company supplying component pressings to the automotive, agricultural and plant machinery industries. The company is ISO 9001 accredited and manufactures a range of fuel and oil filters, base and filler assemblies and also fuel, engine and hydraulic oil filler caps. These products are distributed globally, and the company also offers a range of services to local businesses, such as sheet metal forming, powder coating, drilling, tapping and machining. The company supplies to a range of well known businesses including JCB, Caterpillar, Garret Motion GTX, Kuehne & Nagel, Kingspan Water & Environmental, Rolls Royce and Volvo to name a few. They have also recently started supplying filters to the electronic and technological sectors.
The business approached the Council for support in a growth strategy based on investment in new equipment to reduce waste and energy and to improve the quality of the finished product. Their existing capstan manually operated lathe was old, damaged and with limited functionality impacting on business productivity. A new CNC lathe would dramatically increase the accuracy and quality of all of these products and allow the company to bring all of the turning back in-house. In addition to turned products, a new CNC lathe would also enable the company to start offering services in tool-making and concept tool development.
Company Director Ed Davies noted, “As a company we are extremely pleased to have been able to take part in the AIM for GOLD Programme, develop a growth plan, and secure the grant towards the purchase of a CNC turning lathe. It has really changed the culture and attitude towards modern methods of manufacturing and as a team has pushed the boundaries of what is achievable for our customers. The lathe has enabled us to reduce tool down time by at least 75% and we are now able to manufacture tooling components in house reducing cost and regaining control over the process”.
As well as having an immediate impact on the culture and on productivity levels the new lathe is also providing the opportunity to develop a stronger offer to existing customers. Ed added, “In terms of winning subcontract work for the lathe it is still early days but it has allowed us to win larger scope work as we have been able to take the whole job of Manufacturing TV brackets for camper vans as we were able to put accurate Radiuses on the hinge pin rapidly and repeatedly accurate. This encouraged the customer to put the whole assembly with us as we now had start and finish processes and this made savings in transportation. We are also in the process of quoting for fastener bosses on coach seats as we already do the powder coating of these. The next step will be to add a bar feeder so that we can rapidly manufacture large volume components. It has been extremely encouraging to have received such support throughout the AIM for GOLD Programme and to also meet and engage with others taking part in the process.”
Meji Media
Meji Media are an award winning events company led by Gurmej Singh Pawar that is based at Wolverhampton Science Park. Graduating with a Masters in Economics, Gurmej traded the volatile world of investment banking for the even more unpredictable world of events management. Having discovered a real talent for creating exciting experiences the business now organise events globally for tens of thousands of customers a year.
A guiding philosophy for Meji Media is that creativity and innovative thinking must be supported with good financial and business acumen to ensure very event achieves a tangible return for the customer. It was this mix of innovation and business return for the customer that led Gurmej to develop his unique brands of firstly the Moonlight and Misteltoe Christmas parties and the team building focused Banter Experiences; and then more latterly the venue and conference finding Venkey system. It was the development and adoption of this latter system that the City Council part funded through the ERDF backed AIM for GOLD Programme. After supporting Gurmej with his growth plan we went on to work up the grant application and then successfully secured a £20,000 grant toward his £60,000 investment.
Company Director Gurmej Singh Pawar commented, “it was tough during covid but we used the time to invest in technology; the grant support really helped us, and now we have gone from 4 staff to 9”.
Venkey with its comprehensive database of venues and its innovative search engine now helps thousands find the right venue at the right price at the right time – adding real value to the marketplace through the provision of its free venue finding arm.
Contact us
If you have a query please complete the form below and we will respond within 48 hours. Alternatively, you can call one of our business support officers during normal office hours (weekdays 9pm-5pm) on 01902 555572.
Depending on the nature of your enquiry we will provide a response direct to you or will refer your business to the relevant organisation/s to help you. This help might be through a relevant workshop, a specialist website, or more in-depth over the phone or face to face support.
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