Business funding and support

We work in partnership with a variety of organisations to deliver business support schemes in the area. Some of those are detailed below as part of a list of useful sources of advice, training and funding schemes for businesses. Please visit the individual websites for up-to-date information on help that may be available.

Staffordshire County Council
Get started and grow - offers funded packages of support in marketing, social media, HR, finance and legal advice for small businesses up to five years old.
Start-up loans - 0% loans of £3,000 to £5,000 available for businesses up to five years old. 
My own boss - offers fully-funded business coaches who can offer support to those thinking of starting their own businesses but don't know where to start.

Stoke-On-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub
The Growth Hub acts as the focal point for businesses that wish to grow, providing co-ordinated and cohesive growth programmes, business networks, growth groups and links to specialist information, advice and services.

Birmingham City University (BCU)
Birmingham City University’s business support service, BCU Advantage, helps businesses from all sectors start, grow and innovate. It offers a range of business support programmes, including Higher Level Skills Match which allows businesses to access skills and talent for placements and internships.

Chambers of Commerce
The Chambers of Commerce is a membership organisation which can help businesses grow their client base through advice, support, networking and workshops. There’s a Lichfield and Tamworth division, which is part of the Greater Birmingham Chambers.
Ignite programme for start-up ventures - Staffordshire Chambers is offering enterprise workshops, a learning platform, networking advice sessions for businesses in their first three years of trading, signposting to wider support, accelerator sessions for growth planning, research and development, sustainability planning and more.

Tamworth Library Start-up hub
A wealth of information on how to start or run a business in Staffordshire, including factsheets, market reports, local area profiles, sources of funding and more.

FSB (The Federation of Small Businesses)
This is another membership organisation which provides self-employed and small business members with local support, networking and business services. 

Prince's Trust
The Prince’s Trust works with 18-to-30-year-olds to turn big business ideas into a reality and has helped over 86,000 young people to start their own ventures.

Arts Council
The Arts Council is the national development agency for creativity and culture. It invests public money from government and The National Lottery to help support the creative sectors through support in growing skills, knowledge and networks.

Enterprise Nation
Whether you’re launching a new business or developing an existing one, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.