The West Midlands’ official investment promotion agency has launched its 2024 Global Growth Programme – a nine-month package of free market entry support, providing international companies with a springboard to success in the region.
West Midlands Growth Programme
Developed by the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC), the programme aims to boost investment in the West Midlands from overseas tech businesses through access toa suite of support, designed to accelerate their UK growth journey. Through new partnerships with Bruntwood SciTech – the UK’s largest dedicated property platform serving the growth of the nation’s knowledge economy, STEAMhouse, University of Wolverhampton Science Park and the University of Warwick Science Park, the programme expands on WMGC’s previous support offering for new investors.
The West Midlands Global Growth Programme has been designed to address the key challenges faced by ambitious, innovative companies at every stage of development – from scale-ups to large corporates – when entering the UK market for the first time. Its free package of support includes sponsored innovation centre workspace, access to sector specific programmes and bespoke professional services assistance, covering areas such as UK subsidiary set-up, introductions to local networks, UK VISA assistance and marketing amplification.
Building on the success of the pilot programme, which was based at Bruntwood SciTech’s Innovation Birmingham campus and focused on supporting international tech companies, the 2024 Global Growth Programme will be delivered across a larger network of landing hubs. Five hubs located across Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry create an expanded offering with tailored support for a broader range of sectors, including healthtech, clean tech, digital tech and future mobility.
With only 40 places available on the West Midlands Global Growth Programme for 2024, WMGC is now accepting applications. Businesses can find out whether they’re eligible to apply and register their interest here.
Neil Rami, chief executive at the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC), said: “To date, our Global Growth Programme has proven a resounding success, helping a number of international companies to kickstart their growth journeys in the West Midlands. The launch of the Global Growth Programme 2024, which is bigger and better than ever before, will enable us to use our best-in-class expertise to support businesses across a wider range of sectors, from new hubs right across the region. We look forward to working with this year’s cohort to help them reach new heights, strengthening the West Midlands’ world-class innovation ecosystem.”
Sabarinath C. Nair, CEO at Skillveri, added: “With our target customers spread widely across England and Scotland, it made perfect sense to position ourselves in the West Midlands – right at the heart of the UK. As well as being extremely well connected to other major UK cities by road and rail, Birmingham was a much more cost-competitive option than the likes of London.
“Being part of the West Midlands Global Growth Programme gave us a real head-start on our UK growth journey. In particular, having access to free desk space at Innovation Birmingham – where we had dedicated consultancy and networking opportunities on our doorstep – has helped us to hit the ground running and thrive in the region from day one.”
