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Business Growth Strategy Business Growth Actions

Actions are structured under the three priorities and contain high-level Action Areas. Within these Action Areas, the detailed actions are split into those that are: 

  • ‘Essential’ – those that are considered important priorities for the delivery of the Strategy. 
  • ‘Strategic Imperatives’ – those that are strategically important but either longer-term priorities, or involve working closely with developing regional activities. 

Investor Engagement 

Inward investment and promotional activity will be led by the new EDV with input from the Council. The West Midlands Growth Plan aims to maintain the West Midlands position within the top 20 of European regions in terms of foreign direct investment, creating new jobs for West Midlands residents and strengthening regional supply chains. We will ensure it is a core part of the regional investment proposition, and that the Council is able to work closely with potential investors to secure higher value employment opportunities. 

Action Area 1) 

Develop a compelling, professional inward investment service reaching international and UK investors seeking to secure growth that can promote Walsall as part of a wider regional offer. 

Essential actions:

  • Maintain a pipeline of viable investment-ready sites (promoted via the Invest Walsall website) and plans for associated infrastructure. 

Strategic imperatives: 

  • Establish a clear narrative on Walsall and its role in the West Midlands (and national) economy and work alongside partners to promote Walsall opportunities. 

Action Area 2) 

Ensure a proactive and responsive investor liaison service that works with expanding and in-moving businesses to ensure their pathway to expansion/relocation is smooth and to maximise the chances of success.

Essential actions: 

  • Ensure all potential investors have a local liaison point of contact who can supply information, arrange meet-ups, access support and resolve planning and delivery challenges. 

Business Engagement 

Action Area 3) 

Target support to businesses with greater growth potential to generate strategic outcomes for Walsall. 

Essential actions:

  • An intelligence/data-led approach to targeting priority clients in Walsall to benefit from regional high growth support programmes. 

Strategic imperatives: 

  • Development of a co-ordinated approach to outreach across all business support providers operating in Walsall and departments of Walsall Council that have contact with businesses to reduce and simplify the number of contact points with businesses and reduce duplication of effort. 
  • Advocate, support and influence the development of a regional approach to business diagnostics and be ready to develop a local solution if a regional one does not meet requirements. 
  • Advocate, support and influence the implementation of a regional Client Relationship Management system that is shared with the EDV and key partners, providing access to information on past support/contact, prioritisation, and growth potential/journey.

Action Area 4) 

Maintain good relations with larger and higher priority businesses to secure insights 

Essential actions: 

  • Ensure qualitative and quantitative intelligence on strategic Walsall firms is used to inform regional targeting of strategic relationship management. 

Strategic imperatives: 

  • Sharing of insight and intelligence on strategic businesses between Walsall Council and the EDV. 

Action Area 5) 

Provide local businesses with opportunities to engage with each other to build shared understanding on priorities and a strong business voice 

Essential actions: 

  • Encourage engagement in regional and local networks, including cluster groups and business networks, to ensure our business interests are represented and local businesses are capitalising on the opportunities they could unlock. 
  • Organise, or support local partners to organise, local business events on hot topics identified through business engagement and intelligence. 

Strategic imperatives:

  • Maintain and grow the Walsall Economic Forum to be our primary point of contact for business insight on local conditions and opportunities, and ensure intelligence informs local/regional support provision. 

Action Area 6) 

Increased coordination and accessibility of business support 

Essential actions: 

  • Proactively work with the new EDV to invest in the tools and clear branding that supports reach and engagement. 

Strategic imperatives:

  • Dedicated responsibility within Walsall Council to lead coordination and communication of business support offering including wider EDV activities and national Business Growth Service offering and content.

Business Growth Support

We need to secure more competitive economic activity in our local business base by driving growth among those businesses with the greatest potential. The scale and nature of future provision will depend on the priorities and resources of the new EDV. We will therefore work closely with partners to ensure the business support offer meets Walsall’s needs.

Action Area 7) 

Ensure the regional business support offer meets the needs of Walsall businesses. 

Essential action: 

  • Ensure Walsall is a net beneficiary of the new EDV by working closely with partners on the development of new regional programmes, maximising take up of support, and filling gaps in support where possible. Ideally support should cover the following which links closely to the key drivers of productivity, good work and sustainability: 
    • Innovation 
    • Accessing supply chains
    • Enterprise support 
    • Investment and investment readiness support 
    • Good work practices 
    • Social enterprise and alternative business models
    • Energy efficiency 
    • International trade

Action Area 8) 

Influence skills provision to meet current and future business needs.

Essential action: 

  • Use business intelligence on current and future skills gaps to influence skills provision locally and regionally

Action Area 9)

Ensure sites and premises meet business requirements 

Essential action: 

  • Explore opportunities with public and private providers for flexible and affordable workspace including incubation space for innovation-led businesses. This should build on business intelligence, including from recent successes and developments including the Bloxwich Launchpad, Digital Skills Hub and the Guildhall Creative Hub.

Action Area 10) 

Develop local marketing and business development support. 

Strategic imperative:

  • Develop a low-cost marketing and business development support which could include events, workshops and the curation of existing online resources.

Action Area 11) 

Increase coordination and communication between the Council’s business facing functions. 

Strategic imperative: 

  • Increase coordination and communication between business-facing Council functions through training and adoption of common systems and processes.