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.

Business Growth West Midlands logo

Award winning Business Support
Wolverhampton Employer Support - 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."

Business Support – established businesses

The Government website provides a search facility allowing you to identify current support most appropriate to your needs. You can search against business stage, sector, number of employees, and nature of support be it advice, grant, loan or equity.

Business Growth West Midlands, of which the City Council is a partner, provides a front door for accessing business support as well as a comprehensive search facility Business Support for business support programmes available to Wolverhampton businesses

For more general advice and information can be found at GOV.UK Business and Self Employed.

Digital

Digital Boost - It can be challenging and lonely to start or run a business, but it doesn’t have to be. This programme can connect you with volunteer experts in strategy, marketing, digital, finance and more for unlimited 1:1 or small-group business mentoring. If you work or lead an organisation with less than 250 employees, you can access resources, advice and information to help your business reach its potential online. The programme pairs small businesses with digital experts from the likes of Google and BT – to equip you with the essential skills to bring, or grow, your organisation online.

Made Smarter

Made Smarter was formed following a nationwide review into UK manufacturing that recommended three key changes: More ambitious leadership; More innovation in developing new technologies;. And faster implementation and adoption of those technologies. The aim is to boost the digital skills of industry leaders, bringing businesses and research development together to develop new technology, and helping makers embrace new digital tools.

Who is Made Smarter for?

  • Manufacturing leaders considering how to accelerate their growth.
  • Employees looking to upskill.
  • Graduates looking to apply their skills.
  • Technology providers wanting to support digital tech integration or development.

To find out more and to register to get more support go to https://www.madesmarter.uk/

Employment and Skills

These continue to be challenging times for us all, however we are committed to continuing to provide the best support we can to businesses and jobseekers. We are here to help you plan your current and future workforce needs as you navigate the current  economic difficulties. Wolves at Work business services are ready and available to offer support to businesses looking for assistance on the following:

  • Recruitment - we can advertise and promote your vacancies and assist with sourcing new talent through the highly successful Wolves at Work project
  • Redundancy support
  • Advice on upskilling your workforce to meet future business needs
  • Useful connections to further business support

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for recruitment or workforce support: recruitment@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Finance

There is a broad offer of support from the main High Street banks as well as loan and equity support from specialist providers:

International Trade

Invest in the UK - Made in the UK and sold to the World here you can find advice and information on beginning to export, developing your export potential, finding the right export markets, making an export plan. Online and phone support available, as well as 1-2-1 meetings. Over 280 market guides available and for further information contact DIT West Midlands – 020 4534 3667.

Low Carbon

The Net Zero Innovation Programme has recently been launched by the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). WMG will bring the delivery of their September programme to Wolverhampton. This free programme offers a cohort-based approach to understanding what net zero would mean and look like for your business. It includes a net zero readiness assessment, a net zero roadmap, collaboration events, a best practice visit, a technical innovation project, and the opportunity to apply for grant funding toward an energy efficiency project (this can be additional to the council's Net Zero grant funding). Underpinning this is an understanding that key to business engagement in the Net Zero journey is helping manufacturing SMEs understand the commercial benefits of decarbonising the workplace. Sustainability is important to businesses but the ultimate drivers for this kind of change are reducing costs, boosting reputation and meeting customers’ growing requirements for a greener supply chain. If you are interested in finding out more please e mail business.development@wolverhampton.gov.uk

GREEN ADVANTAGE - A short course programme designed for business leaders, managers and professionals who want to consider the implications of climate and environmental challenges for their business or workplace alongside maintaining business performance and profitability.  This course will give you the information and skillset to understand environmental sustainability in your business context.

UK Business Climate Hub - The UK government has partnered with business owners and respected climate groups to help businesses cut carbon emissions and protect the planet. Whatever size your business or industry you’re in, your commitment could make a real difference – to your business, to your customers, to your community, to the planet – and to your energy bills!
That’s why the UK government has created the UK Business Climate Hub, a campaign that asks UK small businesses of up to 250 employees to join the fight against climate change by committing to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. We all want to create a better planet, but it can be hard to know where to start. Through this commitment, join other businesses, get tips, make a plan, and be confident that you are really making a difference to the planet and to your business.

Management Development 

Be the Business Mentoring Programme - A mentoring support programme that can focus across the business or on specifics such as digital, leadership, workforce, sales or growth. This can be run as a 12 week or a 12-month programme and to be eligible a business must have been trading for at least a year with at least 3 FT employees. The website also hosts useful templates and guides for managing and growing a business

Help to Grow Management Course - This management training programme gives access to 12-weeks of learning designed to fit alongside work commitments; helps you develop a bespoke business growth plan to help your business reach its full potential; provides 1:1 support from a business mentor; and helps you learn from peers and network with businesses just like yours. The programme is 90% funded by the government so a business only pays £750

Manufacturing

Manufacturing Growth Programme - A dedicated, experienced, Manufacturing Growth Manager will provide on-going support, and can help identify opportunities and create plans for growth and improvement. It also provides a comprehensive business diagnostic tool specifically designed for manufacturers – GROWTHmapper

Made Smarter West Midlands - has launched a £1.9 million digital adoption push to drive growth in West Midlands manufacturing and engineering SMEs and help them boost productivity. Digital experts will provide advice to manufacturing businesses on how to switch to advanced and automated technologies as well as working to improve employees’ overall digital skills.

Product and Service Development

Innovate UK EDGE - A mentoring support programme that can focus across the business or on specifics such as digital, leadership, workforce, sales or growth. This can be run as a 12 week or a 12-month programme and to be eligible a business must have been trading for at least a year with at least 3 FT employees. The website also hosts useful templates for managing and growing a business including technology strategy, inclusive workforce, streamlined sales process, online competitor analysis, and managing risk; as well as guides on subjects including boosting employee motivation without increasing salaries, keeping cashflow forecasts up to date, improving staff onboarding, and top tips for good management

Innovation Competitions - These offer grants of between £25,000 and £10 million, and innovation loans of between £100,000 and £1 million. (Innovation loans only for UK-based SMEs to carry out late-stage research and development projects)

High Growth Programme

This will provide intensive and tailored support for 50 of the West Midlands high growth SMEs to not only unlock barriers to growth but to manage growth in a sustainable way. Between July 2024 – March 2025, these 50 businesses will be provided with a dedicated Key Account Manager (KAM). KAMs will work with each company to agree a growth ambition and identify a current baseline position and key challenges.

Each company will get a tailored account plan that will detail activities, KPIs and interventions needed to achieve the desired growth target by the end of the programme.

For further information email business.development@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Advice & Guidance
Business Rates and Relief
Employment and Workforce Development

These continue to be challenging times for us all, however we are committed to continuing to provide the best support we can to businesses and jobseekers. We are here to help you plan your current and future workforce needs as you navigate the current  economic difficulties.

Wolves at Work business services are ready and available to offer support to businesses looking for assistance on the following:

  • Recruitment - we can advertise and promote your vacancies and assist with sourcing new talent through the highly successful Wolves at Work project
  • Redundancy support
  • Advice on upskilling your workforce to meet future business needs
  • Useful connections to further business support

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for recruitment or workforce support: recruitment@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Or call the Business Support line: 01902 290242 between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Thursday or from 9am to 4.30pm on Fridays

Useful links

There are several useful websites to further explain the support available to businesses and their employees:

Useful links

Black Country-specific advice and support for businesses is available through the Black Country Growth Hub.

The Federation of Small Businesses has also published guidance on what you can do to protect your business and employees.

The Black Country Chamber of Commerce have also published a number of interpretative and advice documents on the Government support schemes.

Guidance for food businesses reopening and adapting their businesses during COVID-19 can be found on the Trade with Confidence website.

The University of Wolverhampton Business School has a range of courses for managers and a dedicated COVID-19 Business Support Hub.

Workshops and Webinars

Our Business Team is a partner in Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM) who organise a programme of business support webinars and workshops - here are a couple coming up this month.

Here you can find details of all BGWM Webinars and Workshops.

Social Economy Drive 2024

Dates: 18 - 22 November 2024

A series of events across the region between the 18th & 22nd of November, celebrating the products, services and impact created by not for personal profit organisations. 

From round table discussions, to networking and meet the buyer events, the Social Economy Drive week has an event for all social entrepreneurs to contribute to and to learn from.

Find events and book tickets as they are announced here 

Product Development Strategies That Work!

Date: 9 November
Time: 10:00 - 16:00, including lunch and refreshments
Venue: STEAMhouse Belmont Row Birmingham B4 7RQ

This one-day masterclass pulls back the curtains on how product development works in some of the world’s most successful companies, so that you can apply the same processes and frameworks to accelerate your growth. Steve May-Russell (CEO of Smallfry Industrial Design Agency) will teach you where new ideas come from and how to manage and refine them for rapid innovation, so that you can apply best practise to your product development strategies.

Learn more and register here

BGWM Investment Readiness: Business Funding Summit 2024

Date: 20 Nov 2024
Time: 09:00 - 16:00
Venue: STEAMhouse, Belmont Row Birmingham B4 7RQ

The perfect opportunity for SME decision-makers from Start-Ups, High Growth, and Established Businesses to attend, network, discover the various funding options available to enhance growth across the West Midlands and hear from SME leaders and key funders in the region.

Click here to find out more and register

Sales Negotiating Essentials

Date: 26 November 2024
Time: 12:00 - 13:30
Venue: Online (Teams)

In the fast-paced world of sales, effective negotiation skills can make all the difference between sealing a deal and losing an opportunity. This dynamic webinar will unlock the art of sales negotiation techniques, for navigating tough conversations, handling objections, and achieving mutually beneficial outcomes. This webinar will empower you with the tools and strategies needed to negotiate with confidence and finesse. Don't miss this chance to enhance your sales game and drive success through strategic negotiations.

Click here to get your free ticket
 

Innovation Support

It’s no secret that levels of R&D and innovation activity in the black country are lower than the wider region. And we know some of the reasons why including the simple fact that most of the regions innovation assets, including Universities and KTP, are based in and around Birmingham.

So earlier this year we sat down with various stakeholders to explore how we could change this, and in April we set ourselves a target to double the number of businesses formally engaged onto an Innovate UK Programme over the following 12 months. Since then we have worked closely with the Warwick Manufacturing Group, Aston Centre for Growth, Made Smarter and Innovate UK, bringing some of those Innovation assets into the City to make them more accessible – and guess what, we’ve now doubled the number of Wolverhampton businesses formally engaged with Innovate UK! And a big thanks to Eamonn O’Connor from Innovate UK, who has delivered a number of Workshops for us. Interested in starting your innovation journey? then please contact us at business.development@wolverhampton.gov.uk

So what is innovation

But what do we mean by innovation, how can a business be more innovative, what difference would an innovative mindset make, exactly what support and funding is available. Well to answer these questions and more, Innovate UK Business Growth are delivering a programme of Workshops and drop-in sessions in the City. Innovation comes in two forms - anything new to the market or anything to the business. So, innovation could see new products or services in the marketplace but equally it could be through processes and systems, which helps improve production, reduce costs, or drive efficiencies.

Our Innovation Workshops

Our Innovation Workshops

The opening workshop in June led by Eamonn O’Connor one of Innovate UK’s Senior Innovation and Growth Specialists provided an introduction to and overview of Innovate UK.  Delegates were introduced to the Innovate UK mission, strategic priorities, and the various opportunities they offered to support innovation in businesses of all sizes. Content included their funding programs, how they collaborate with industry and academia, and the resources available to help business ideas reach their full potential.

The second workshop in July focused on finance available and developing a roadmap for the innovation journey. Eamonn O’Connor Senior Innovation and Growth Specialist, presented a series of steps and actions necessary to implement a strategy to drive innovation, as well an overview of the funding opportunities available.

At the third Workshop help in September there was a focus on how you can be innovative in the approach to branding, marketing and customer knowledge. Using their 30+ years of marketing experience Innovation UK Specialists, Howard Nead and Stephen Fisher guided delegates through the fundamentals of a best practice marketing approach to grow a businesses, including Understanding the sales funnel, Telling the business story, The 7 P’s of marketing, Brand management, Channels and routes to market and Marketing in the digital era.

Our Innovation Workshops

At the fourth workshop held in November the focus was “Mindset for Entrepreneurs” where Eamonn O’Connor Senior Innovation and Growth Specialist shared a wealth of information, advice and great tips about how to keep motivated on your business journey and how to avoid entrepreneurial burnout. Eamonn was also able to share his own experience as an entrepreneur building and selling an engineering business whilst along the way facing a series of challenges to stay focused, motivated and maintaining a sense of well being.

Is innovation support right for me?

We appreciate some businesses do not see themselves as innovative, and/or would not consider themselves eligible for Innovate UK support. That may be the case for some, but you would be surprised at the range and types of business that have received support.  If you are wondering whether innovate UK Business Growth Support would be relevant to you why not take a look through some of their case studies here.

A helpful toolbox

Inspired by Taiichi Ohnos’ “5 Whys”, this free tool helps you to quickly get to the root causes of problems. By the end, you’ll have sorted between symptoms of the problem (which are often mistaken for the problem itself) and have a clearer picture of what you need to address! This tool is available for free as part of Steamhouse's growing Innovation Toolbox, full of handy interactive resources to help you innovate to solve problems! Also check out the Assumption Dump tool which you should always try before starting any project!

Follow this link for an insight into the full support from Innovate UK Business Growth.

 

Newsletter
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 UKSPF Grant Programme.

Bowers and Jones

Bowers and Jones

Bowers and Jones Ltd are based in Bilston area of Wolverhampton, and have been making roll tooling and equipment for the metal rolling industry in the Black Country for almost 70 years. 

The company currently employ 16 staff who offer a complete in-house service provided by their experienced engineers, including technical advice to optimise customers production processes. This together with continuous investment in machinery and software, has built Bowers and Jones into a Centre of Excellence for design manufacture and the worldwide distribution of rolls and rolling equipment for a wide range of sizes and applications. The company has been on a growth trajectory and has a turnover of over £4M

The business was set up in the mid 1950’s and the managing director is Jane Sommerville. 

Jane has worked in the steel industry for over 30 years, has a BEng Hons in Mechanical Engineering and a Warwick Business School MBA. She joined the business in 2012 when the company was owned by a German Group and has managed the purchase and sale of the business 3 times since then, ending with a successful MBO with her fellow directors in 2020.

The company exports over 70% of sales, with more than half of this being into the EU the other half going to North America. They specialise in high value, high performance products and have a very loyal customer base who rely on quality, experience, and technical abilities to "Keep Mills Rolling".

The company has been working with Wolverhampton Council for a number of years and in 2022 the business invested in a new CUT E 600 Wire Eroding Machine. allowing them to cut complex shapes from a variety steel grades, to improve their productivity and reliability, thus reducing lead times to begin delivery of a new growth plan. 

Most recently the company have benefitted from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) securing a £50,000 grant toward a £400,000 investment in a new Doosan Vertical Lathe. The company again worked with adviser support from Wolverhampton Councils business growth team and Business Growth West Midlands to develop a robust business case to secure the grant. Commenting, MD Jane Sommerville said, “We want to expand further, and the new machine will provide capacity for bidding for high value, high quality products for very special applications in the metal forming and rolling contracts in the UK and overseas. It will reduce business lead times by alleviating a bottleneck the company currently has in this product range.

Barton Storage Systems

Barton Storage Systems is a trade only manufacturer and supplier of storage, materials handling and access equipment with a nationwide distributor network across the UK. The company was originally formed in 1964 and was owned by a number of different organisations and personnel Caparo Industries. 

In the late 80's there was an MBO which bought out parts of the shares from Caparo Industries. 

In 1999 the business was owned by John Williams Holdings, a very large injection moulding operation producing for the likes of Dyson. In 2003 MD, Dan Rodbourne and two other co-directors created an MBO to buy all shares from John Williams Holdings, 

From March 2021 Barton has entered a new growth phase scaling up the business with the ambition to double the annual revenues in the next 5 years.

The company have already participated in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Birmingham University to engage a qualified graduate to help the business improve competitiveness and productivity through better use of knowledge, technology, and skills. 

Managing Director, Dan Rodbourne, commented, “Phase 1 of the project is for the graduate to develop new management, quality improvement, market analysis and digital strategies to transform business operations and develop an enterprise IT architecture for Barton to support data-driven decision making. Adding new technology allows us to bring more services in-house, facilitating upgrades to major reports from the system to facilitate automation for speed and accuracy as well as enabling digital transformation. Introducing better systems and tools will also help the business to improve customer relations and business growth”.

Following initial engagement with Wolverhampton City Council through the AIM for GOLD growth Programme the company were introduced to the UKSPF decarbonisation programme – and were particularly interested in reducing energy costs and carbon emissions. The first step in this was a free energy assessment by environmental consultants Pro-Enviro which was carried out at the end of 2023. The comprehensive report identified a number of ways in which the company reduce emissions and costs – including annual savings of £2,440 through replacing the kerosene boiler heating with an ASHP based system (Air Conditioning unit) 

Currently the business is heated by a Potterton kerosene boiler fired central heating system. The heat is distributed in the rooms via perimeter convection heaters built into the wall and the skirting. A more energy efficient and lower carbon alternative would be to use an air source heat pump-based system (ASHP) – air to air sometimes called ‘aircon’. This would achieve substantial energy savings of the order of 80% through a combination of more efficient heat generation and improved controls allowing individual room temperature control and timing.

Dan added, “The impact of the investment of replacing the old kerosene boiler system would have an extreme beneficial impact for the business. It would significantly improve day to day working within the business with a clear improvement in staff wellbeing and morale. Overheads would be reduced allowing the business to invest into operational delivery including the continued commitment of our energy and water usage reductions goals of 15% by 2026”. 

Overall the company could achieve annual financial savings of over £5,400 and reduce Co2e by 13 tonnes by implementing the recommendations within the Pro-enviro report. In summary, implementing the recommendations could improve staff thermal comfort, reduce annual carbon emissions by 72%, minimise exposure to any electricity and fuel price increases, and put the business on a path to zero carbon by eliminating the bulk of fossil fuel use at the site.

Whilst the total cost of investing in the air source heat pump-based system was just under £30,000 Dan worked with the Business Development team at Wolverhampton City Council to secure a 50% grant towards the costs through the UKSPF Net Zero Grant Programme.
 

Ludlow Tavern Springhill

Ludlow Tavern Springhill

Built in 1938 of wood, tile and wood cladding; and formerly a Harvester Restaurant, the ‘Ludlow Tavern Springhill’ of today began trading in 2005. It now serves hot and chilled drinks (non-alcoholic and alcoholic) to the public and has a restaurant preparing and serving fresh seasonal food sourced from local suppliers, specializing in serving contemporary British home-cooked meals, with a focus on fresh seafood. As a pivotal establishment for the local community, they provide affordable, high-quality dining experiences in a welcoming setting. Remarkably, the majority of their original staff have remained, with many team members collaborating for over two decades.

Chris Ludlow, owner of the Ludlow tavern, commented, “The business was doing well but I was aware that that the boiler was at an age where it was becoming less efficient resulting in significant energy costs. The opportunity then arose to get a free and comprehensive energy assessment via the Business Growth West Midlands Net Zero Grant Programme. The Assessment was carried our very professionally by Pro Enviro, and they agreed that the review would focus on the potential energy and carbon savings associated with upgrading the boiler as well as installing a solar PV system, and free cooling for the stock stored in the cellar”.

Once the Energy Assessment was complete Chris worked with one of the Business Development Officers at the City Council to complete a UKSPF Grant Application. The application focused on the purchase and installation of solar panels as they could not just significantly enhance resource efficiency by reducing energy costs, but provide a renewable energy source, promote energy independence, and align with the company’s environmental stewardship goals.

The securing of the NET ZERO grant enabled Ludlow Taverns to invest in the solar panels, leading to a significant reduction in monthly overheads and fixed costs, ultimately boosting profitability and the company's competitiveness. The projected first-year savings from onsite energy generation are estimated to be 21,593 kWh / £14,055, with a total projection, including energy export, of £14,611. The calculated payback period is 2.6 years, and a projected full cash flow of £240,000 is expected by the 20th year. 

Chris added, “I believe this investment demonstrates the company's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, signaling a strong dedication to customers, staff, and stakeholders. Additionally, the cost savings could be reinvested to enhance the skills of current staff, securing their positions within the company”.

In total Ludlow Taverns invested £24,000 in the solar panels and secured a 50% grant towards the cost.

Lilliput UK Ltd

Based in Zhangzhou, China, LILLIPUT is a globalized Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) specialising in the research and application of electronic and computer-related technologies.  It has been involved in the design, manufacturing, marketing, and delivery of electronic products across the world since 1993. 

Incorporated on 5 March 1997 Lilliput UK Ltd, based in Wolverhampton’s Science Park, is the official European distributor of LILLIPUT monitors.  Lilliput UK Ltd specialises in touch screen monitors, ranging from 5" monitors to 10" monitors, VGA, HDMI, SDI, DVI, USB, composite video and field monitors, panel, and in-car PCs.

LILLIPUT products such as special display devices, camera and broadcasting monitors, touch VGA/HDMI monitors for industrial application, marine and medical monitors, embedded computer platforms, home automation devices and other specialist LCD displays are imported from China and distributed by Lilliput UK Ltd throughout Europe.  The company also combines some of the LILLIPUT products with bespoke metalwork to offer customised open frame monitors.  

Recently the company has been collaborating on the invention of a new medical device that attaches to a patient's foot or leg and uses Artificial Intelligence and magnetic sensors to measure the muscle tension and strength of a limb or joint.  The device then relays this information electronically to a physician at another location without the need for the patient to be physically seen or assessed.  It is designed to be used at home by elderly patients with mobility issues or any patient recovering from an injury and will enable recovery and mobility to be monitored remotely without the patient needing to attend appointments.  

This would be a new product for the company and market research done by the company has shown that this device would also be new to the market. Research done by the company has shown that there is currently no fully automated device on the market that can monitor these kinds of conditions and injuries.

In order that the company could develop a prototype they made a successful  application for a UKSPF SME grant to the City of Wolverhampton City Council so they could purchase a state-of-the-art 4-axis 3D printing and laser-cutting machine. They secured a maximum grant of £15,000 toward the total costs £33,599 and the City Council will now continue to work closely with the company as the develop a prototype of the medical device being produced by the middle of 2024, and it is hoped that the device could be taken to market towards the end of 2025. Importantly the investment in the 3D printing and laser-cutting machine will enable the company to directly manufacture its own bespoke metalwork for its range of open frame monitors and thus bring this supply chain in-house.  

The company expects to create one job initially as an operator for the 3D printing machine, a further 3-4 jobs could be created within the first year of taking the new medical device to market and it is projected that turnover could increase by as much as 50% once the product is established in the market. 
 

JH Marshall

JH Marshall

JH Marshall Pressings is a family run business first established in 1929, with over 90 years’ experience in metal press work operating in Wolverhampton. 

They offer extensive expertise to customers in helping create cost-effective tooling for new projects, specialising in metal pressings using a range of ferrous and nonferrous including mild, stainless, galvanised steel, as well as aluminum, copper and brass. With full range of 18 power presses they complete various fabrication work including punching, cutting, cropping, blanking, forming, compound and deep drawing. Their diverse customer base includes, but isn’t limited to construction, agriculture, trade and the rapidly expanding rail sector. 

The company established a relationship with the Business Growth team at Wolverhampton City Council early in 2022 attending workshops and then securing capital grant support. Over the past couple of years the company have focused investment on a number of projects to reduce their energy costs and their carbon footprint. These have included the installation of LED lighting, purchasing an electric forklift truck, and moving to a variable speed compressor.

Following discussions with Wolverhampton City Council toward the end of 2023 the business registered for a free Energy Assessment through Pro Enviro as part of the regional Decarbonisation Programme. The Energy Assessment report analysed energy use and source, and concluded that the business could achieve annual financial savings of over £3,775 a year and over 4.7 tonnes of CO2e by implementing one the key recommendations of installing the solar Panels.

Hayley Marshall one of the Directors at J H Marshall's, explained", “Once we had the Energy Assessment completed we worked with the Business Growth team at Wolverhampton Council to successfully secure a 50% grant towards the cost of the solar panels. This green investment will help keep the business on track to become carbon neutral by the end of 2027, and specifically reduce annual carbon emissions by over 30%. The investment of the Solar Panel installation will also reduce energy consumption by over 50% on average per month across each year and in the brighter, warmer summer months reduce the monthly electricity bill by up to 75%”.

The ProEnviro report also suggested that in the future the business invests in a duct to allow warm air from the compressor into the workshop during autumn and winter months. In summary, implementing these two recommendations could reduce energy costs & reduce annual carbon emissions by 38%.

Hayley believes this will demonstrate to clients, new and old and other stakeholders that JH Marshall's are commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for the business they would be able to re-direct this cost saving into further up-skilling current staff, as well as potentially leading to up to 2 more full-time staff roles in the next 18 months.

The solar panel investment will allow them to cut energy costs further by installing smart meters, export electric meters and inverters, advanced devices that measures the amount of energy used or not used by the business and sends this information to the energy supplier, the business can then export back to the grid which should help to lower bills and assist their energy efficiency efforts.

Hayley added, “The use of solar panels to generate electricity is becoming increasingly popular, and with good reason. Along with reducing energy bills and being environmentally friendly, the technology has become more affordable and accessible to all businesses. The investment will significantly reduce our monthly overhead costs, a real concern within the UK’s manufacturing sector, allowing us to compete in the international market place. The support of the City Council and Pro-Enviro has been invaluable”.

Business Support - start up businesses

Start Up Business Wolverhampton

The Black Country Chamber of Commerce is now providing services for start up businesses on behalf of City of Wolverhampton Council as part of the local authority’s drive to build the city economy. With funding from the Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund the start-up programme, which will run until March 2025, they provide support enabling Wolverhampton residents to engage and access skills to create the foundations for their business to prepare, start and ensure its survival.

Further details can be found here: Start Up Business Wolverhampton - Black Country Chamber of Commerce

Under the Council’s ‘Our City Our Plan’ strategy, the Chamber of Commerce team will offer local start ups in the early stages of development a suite of activity to help them start up, scale up and thrive. To speak to the Chamber team about signing up for the programme, call 0330 024 0820 or email: wolverhampton.startup@blackcountrychamber.co.uk

Ignite Business Workspace and Start Up Centre

IGNITE (Innovate, Grow, Navigate, Ideas, Technology, Entrepreneurship) is a FREE to use business workspace and start-up centre to help encourage co-working. Located in ground floor units 3 and 4 of the i10 office and retail complex at the heart of Wolverhampton city centre’s transport Interchange, IGNITE provides entrepreneurs, business start-ups, established growing SMEs, students and graduates with FREE bookable workspaces, resources and business support. For more information see here.

GOV.UK

A wealth of business start-up advice and guidance is available via the Government website.

For sector, trade and activity specific business plan examples please visit Bplans - Sample Business Plans. Here you will find over 500 examples, along with other useful start up information.
 
The Princes Trust is also a good source and has useful information on typical business plan templates.
 
If you are looking for loan support the British Business Bank website also has useful templates for managing the start-up phase of a business including in particular the managing the cashflow element which is key to any business start up.
 
There is also Enterprise Nation which has useful information.
Expert support for small businesses in the UK | Enterprise Nation
 
The banks are also a useful source of information with the following available for the High Street Banks:

To help raise awareness of your business, build useful business contacts, and potential customers and suppliers it is probably beneficial to factor in time to attend networking events. Whilst some of these are chargeable many are free, and a good source for finding details of these is Eventbrite.

This allows you to identify all types of events by theme, location and date - and most of the business support workshops the City Council run are advertised there.
 
The Federation of Small Businesses and the Black Country Chamber also run networking and business support events, have a range of information on their websites, and whilst being membership organisations there is some information and events available to non members

UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Good Growth Strategy

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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