Worcestershire County Council: The Elevate programme

Aimed at established SMEs in Worcestershire, Elevate is an exclusive and unique offer for successful applicants to gain high quality, specialist business and grant support to help their business go much further.

We spoke to Matt Busby, Director of The Name Label Company about his experience on the programme. Having operated successfully with an ambitious mindset for further growth, the local company produces labels for two distinct verticals: the school/ camp market, and the care/ nursing market. Find out more below:

What attracted you the Elevate programme?

I was invited to attend a workshop aimed at those looking to grow their business. I was really impressed with the Elevate programme when it was presented. We did one particular exercise on the day called ‘in-flight checks’ and it raised alarm bells with some of the processes I was doing and showed me a path for how I could improve my business.

What specialist support did you receive?

I was really excited about the peer-to-peer learning in the boot camps. Getting together with likeminded businesses and sharing experiences and problems to develop ideas and ways to move forward is a really good thing. Shared learning has been fantastic for my business and we have seen results from day one.

Once you completed the Elevate programme, how did it help your business?

We have implemented the processes we learned during the Elevate programme within our business and its absolutely going to push us along.

Initially, I thought we had an extremely cohesive team and communications were always happening, but what I discovered was that we weren’t communicating as effectively as we could, and there was no accountability. What we took from the ‘cohesive teams’ exercises will really propel us to the next level.

The Elevate programme has been fantastic for us. I would go so far as to say it’s the best programme I have ever been involved in. The vision from Worcestershire County Council to put together a programme like this will undoubtedly support many businesses like ours, to help them grow and continue to thrive.

What are the next steps for your business?

The next steps are to make sure all the processes, tips and ideas that were picked up during Elevate are put in place, and for those we have already implemented to continue.

To find out more about ELEVATE visit www.business-central.co.uk/elevate or email the team at [email protected]

The Elevate Programme has now assisted over 40 businesses to develop, thrive and grow with more support coming soon for new cohorts of growth business support as well as sector specific support* through Elevate Manufacturing including Manufacturing Supply Chain support. *Eligibility criteria applies.