Enterprise and Business

The Welland SSP and the sub-region has been chosen as the East Midlands nominee and runner up in the prestigious Enterprising Britain competition, based on the SSP’s success in creating an all inclusive strategy for enterprise.

The SSP was selected by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) in recognition of its encouragement and support for people to develop business ideas, stimulating an entrepreneurial culture across its market towns and in rural and agricultural communities and in successfully linking a range of programmes together.

At the heart of Welland programmes is a pro-active approach on enterprise and business development to consolidate its five-year business and enterprise strategy, establishing new and innovative business development including Welland Growth Grants, a Small Business Development Package and an Enterprising Welland Women programme.

The Welland SSP continues to work with a wide range of partners to stimulate enterprise development and an enterprise culture and encouraging the start up, growth and development of successful companies. Its focus will include creating easily accessible enterprise and innovation centres linked to market towns and development of hub&spoke rural community resource centres. Supporting this is the Welland Xtranet ( www.wellandxtra.net)

Building on previous successful food and drink programmes, the Welland Food Advisory Group leads work on innovative branding and co-operative marketing for local products and the development of local access points for produce.

Key issues

• Promoting enterprise within the rural economy
• A dispersed economic structure heavily dependent on SMEs
• A need to provide business support infrastructure
• Encouraging women to realise full economic potential
• Support for start-up businesses and growing businesses
• Realising potential of market towns within the local economy
• Need for quality space for incubation and enterprise development
• Support for food and drink initiatives
• Developing social enterprise and mobilising social capital