Grant awarded to help south Shropshire businesses and events
A South Shropshire organisation which provides a huge range of facilities has been given the go ahead to create a new business administration and support service to help businesses post Covid 19.
Enterprise South West Shropshire, based in Enterprise House in the centre of Bishop’s Castle, will now be able to expand its services in the community after it was awarded nearly £25,000 from the Shropshire Wider Economic Recovery Grant.
Manager Rob McKay said it was a real coup for the Bishop’s Castle area, which would see a huge benefit to economic development in the area post Covid-19.
He said: “We will be able to quickly deliver a wider economic benefit to the region post Covid-19.
“Sometimes small businesses just don’t have the resources to concentrate on non-core tasks and we want to take those off their hands and allow them to free up valuable time for business-critical activities to grow their business.”
The grant will also allow Enterprise House to help regional festivals and events by reducing the administrative burden and volunteer time commitment.
Mr McKay said: “For people wanting to put on events, there is a huge administrative burden.
“Our new service will help address this as we will help festival and event organisers to deliver outstanding regional events, which will bring high visitor numbers and revenue to our area.”
Mr McKay said the grant will offer a lifeline to local businesses as well as local and regional festivals and events that are critical to southwest Shropshire’s local economic and social recovery post pandemic.
Services that will be offered to businesses will include administrative, financial and IT support, marketing, promotion and social media,administration skills and event management.
“We currently provide services for between 150 and 200 businesses in the region,” said Mr McKay. “We are looking forward to helping many more. Sometimes the day-to-day admin of running a business is overwhelming and this will help people concentrate on creativity and growing their actual business.
“We know from experience that many of the small businesses in the area need specific, tailored support to develop and grow.”
Mr McKay said ESWS also wanted to make sure key festivals in the region, such as the Bishop’s Castle Michaelmas Fair and Clun Green Man festival survive.
He said: “These are events that bring a lot of revenue to the town with visitors travelling from far and wide.
“Volunteer event organisers have been hit so hard by the pandemic with many considering whether restarting historic events is worth their while.
“These events take an incredible amount of time and effort to run so we want to be able to help with planning and bureaucracy.”
Councillor Ed Potter, Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Planning, said: “It is incredible to see the very real impact the grant funding has had on businesses the length and breadth of Shropshire as we aim to bounce back from the pandemic.
“As a council we are determined to do all we can to keep Shropshire the place to be for growth and this will show everybody how serious we are.
“To hear first-hand accounts such as this means a lot – it shows the very real impact the support is having on the county.
“The vision Enterprise South West has is one of a prosperous and confident South West Shropshire where businesses and communities thrive and that’s exactly what we can get behind.”
