East Birmingham, North Solihull SME and Social Enterprise Support

Description

This project will fund a Tailored Business Support Programme which will explicitly seek to connect local SMEs to public-sector contracting opportunities within the area. This programme will cover mapping of eligible businesses, business diagnostics, business transition (especially around commercial viability for Social Enterprises), referral to existing start-up support, access to finance, and tailored support around consortia formation. To support this project will also fund a small grant programme, and a series of meet-the-buyer events aimed at further removing logistical barriers to accessing contracts.This programme will run in collaboration with market research which will aggregate contracting opportunities from within the Birmingham Anchor Network, Tier 1 contractors, and Solihull MBC. The successful provider must provide ongoing support to this mapping. Lot 1: This project will fund a Tailored Business Support Programme which will explicitly seek to connect local SMEs to public-sector contracting opportunities within the area. This programme will cover mapping of eligible businesses, business diagnostics, business transition (especially around commercial viability for Social Enterprises), referral to existing start-up support, access to finance, and tailored support around consortia formation. To support this project will also fund a small grant programme, and a series of meet-the-buyer events aimed at further removing logistical barriers to accessing contracts.This programme will run in collaboration with market research which will aggregate contracting opportunities from within the Birmingham Anchor Network, Tier 1 contractors, and Solihull MBC. The successful provider must provide ongoing support to this mapping.The contract will be awarded to one supplier, commencing January 2024 for a period of 15 months (ending 31st March 2025).This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).Please note that this service will be delivered in conjunction with Solihull MBC with procurement and additional support from the Council. Additional information: This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.