Advantage West Midlands works with many partners in the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to develop policy and deliver projects that will create a more prosperous West Midlands region.
We have in-house support for a number of activities, but also set-up external bodies to deliver priorities on our behalf. The key services we offer ourselves are as follows:
Developing projects with Advantage West Midlands
Advantage West Midlands financially supports a wide range of projects. These include large scale development projects that are essential to the transformation of the region such as Birmingham New Street Station. But we also support smaller projects that focus on delivering regional priorities, from regenerating market towns in the region’s rural areas, to promoting Research and Development.
All projects that are funded by Advantage West Midlands must align with the aims of the West Midlands Economic Strategy. The vast majority of projects will be associated with one of our ‘delivery vehicles’: Regeneration Zones, High Technology Corridors and Business Clusters. These enable us to target investment where it is most needed or where there is most potential.
While much of our funding is already committed through our Corporate Plan, we are always looking to develop projects which have real potential to grow the West Midlands’ economy and contribute to its prosperity.
To find out more about developing a project with Advantage West Midlands, please go to Developing your project.
Providing grants to businesses
The Agency administers the following grant schemes:
Selective Finance for Investment in England
Grants of £10,000 upwards to support a capital expenditure project which will improve productivity, skills and employment.
For more information and contact detials please visit the page on Selective Finance for Investment in England
Grants for Research and Development
Grants ranging from £2,500 to £500,000 to support technologically innovative research and development projects in small and medium sized enterprises.
For more information and contact detials please visit the page on Grants for Research and Development
Applications for both grants can be submitted direct to the Agency but if you are looking for business support, whether for advice, funding or training you should contact the West Midlands Business Link.
Website: www.businesslinkwm.co.uk; Tel: 0845 113 1234
Business Link West Midlands provides a one-stop-shop service for businesses. In addition to providing information and advice it diagnoses the support needs of the business and connects it to the appropriate solution.The aim of Business Link West Midlands is to provide a one-stop-shop service for small and medium-sized businesses. It seeks to understand the support issues of the business, undertake diagnostic of this and connect the business to the appropriate solution.
Support for international investors
Advantage West Midlands manages and co-ordinates the investment service for the West Midlands, seeking to attract and retain investment and jobs from foreign-owned companies to the region.
Companies who have recently benefited from locating to the West Midlands include Protomold, UPS, TK Maxx, CSC, Cap Gemini and Mahindra.
They join companies such as Fujitsu, IBM, Oracle, Muller Diaries and many others who have already chosen the West Midlands as their base. Our investment activities promote the many distinctive and internationally competitive features that make the West Midlands such an attractive proposition to investors including its unique central location.
For more information and contact details for the investment support team, please visit the page on International investment.