Business news and events

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Latest news

Visit West awarded Local Visitor Economy Partnership status

Visit West, the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) for Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, has been awarded Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) accreditation by national tourism agency VisitEngland. Find out more on the Visit West website.

Digital Learning Factories training

The National Composites Centre (NCC) is offering SMEs in the West of England Combined Authority region the opportunity to develop their digital capability for free, as part of the Workforce for the Future programme. Digital Learning Factory training modules created by the NCC, GKN Aerospace and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) run through to September 2023. Read more on the NCC website.

Made Smarter Adoption

Made Smarter West of England is designed to assist local small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to understand and overcome production challenges through digital technologies. There is 1:1 support, grants up to £20k and skills support available. Find out more about Made Smarter West of England.

Innovate UK EDGE – RTO Grant

This national programme is offering up to £15k grant funding to use with a Research & Technology Organisation (RTO). The deadline for project completion is February 2024 with typical project duration of 2-3 months. Read more about the programme and whether your business is eligible for funding on the Innovate UK website.

The Create Growth Programme – West of England Growth Hub

Supporting local creative businesses to unlock economic growth.

The Create Growth Programme will build on the success of the Creative Scale Up Pilot (2019-2022) and aims to support high-growth creative businesses to scale and become investment ready through a targeted business support package.

Find out more on the West of England Growth Hub website.

Thrive at Work

The Thrive at Work programme supports business leaders with the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce. Find out more on the West of England Growth Hub website.

Business scale-up programme – Cool Ventures

A new intensive business support programme from South Gloucestershire council, created to help local small and micro businesses evolve and grow. Find out more on the Cool Ventures website.

Universal business support

We work with Cool Ventures to provide funded business support available to businesses in South Gloucestershire.

There are lots of opportunities to learn new skills that could help develop your business.

For upcoming events visit the Cool Ventures website and their Eventbrite page.