Tamworth Borough Council has awarded a total of £21,500 in new grants to five eligible Tamworth town centre businesses, to help support business growth.
The Tamworth Town Centre ‘Tell Your Story’ Business Grant, offer a grant contribution between £500 to £7,000 to new and existing businesses with a fixed premises based in the town centre.
The grants are aimed at helping small businesses develop their engagement with new customers. This includes strengthening their company brand, clarifying their unique selling proposition, creating new or improved products and services, and improving their marketing strategies to ‘tell their story’ better.
The council, using funds from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has allocated up to £21,500 for eligible businesses for this financial year.
The scheme operates on a match-funded basis to help deliver a greater economic impact to more town centre businesses.
A total of £54,961 application amounts were received and the council was able to award the full budget amount of £21,500.
Successful applications that met the business criteria included:
Fifty-Two Degrees North: £4,500 for the promotion of business to improve visibility and implementation of digital software strategies.
Elite Group: £5,400 to deliver and promote a marketing and website development package for small businesses.
The Peel Aldergate and Christophers: £3,300 to create a Augmented Reality (AR) package to highlight available services of business and connect customers to their website.
Menzair: £3,100 towards a marketing campaign to reach a customer base that involves young people and children with neurodivergence and special needs.
SkintonicAllure Ltd: £4,000 for digital development to support the promotion of the business and market strategy.
Free workshops were included in the grant application, offered by Tamworth Borough Council through their UKSPF funded business support programme. at Tamworth Enterprise Centre, delivered by the council’s business development partner Digital Islands.
The Economic Development team is currently designing its next town centre business grant scheme and support offer, to launch in 2024. To keep in touch with the latest business support offers, upcoming events and announcements, please follow the Council social media pages and website, or join the https://tamworth-town-centre-business-hub.mn.co/.
For more information on business grants please contact the economic development team via phone: 01827 709709, or email: Business@tamworth.gov.uk.
Councillor Paul Turner, Leader of Tamworth Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to award these new grants to support our town centre businesses during these very challenging times.
“We know many businesses, shops and restaurants are working under very different conditions with the cost-of-living crisis and inflation. Therefore, we really want to reach out and offer additional business support.
“We believe that these grants and supporting workshops, can go a long way in helping businesses market their USP, build their brand recognition, upgrade their digital support and drive their business growth.”
Notes to editors:
Businesses must pay the costs upfront and the awarded grant amount will be reimbursed once Tamworth Borough Council has received receipts or other appropriate evidence of spend.
These grants are funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.
Tamworth Borough Council also offers various support for local businesses, including start-up grants, growth advice and training opportunities.
Businesses classed as a ‘town centre’ location, can be found on the highlighted map areas found on our website: https://www.tamworth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/graphics/Town_Center_map.pd.