Gloucestershire businesses are being supported to capitalise on the county's ambitious economic growth strategy through an empowering new event series.
Led by Cheltenham-based tech consultancy, Emerge Digital, the new Gloucestershire Growth Forum is backed by more than 20 local organisations including the University of Gloucestershire and The Growth Hub Gloucestershire; and aims to help facilitate growth for local businesses across multiple sectors.
The forum has been setup in response to Gloucestershire County Council's economic growth strategy, released in 2024, which outlines plans for the county to become a hub for the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agencies; and attract world-leading businesses in digital communications, advanced manufacturing and agri-tech.
The strategy proposes initiatives to accelerate investment; create jobs; develop skills; and position Gloucestershire as a leader in green industries and technologies.
But despite these plans,
the council's new economic growth board predicts that the
local economy will stagnate in 2025, due to the impact of the government’s
National Insurance increase on local SMEs.
The forum aims to help businesses counteract that forecast, hosting its first event in March 2025 at the University of Gloucestershire Business School at Oxstalls campus in Gloucester, supported by The Growth Hub team, where a lineup of experts will aim to provide 'actionable growth guidance' to more than 20 local businesses.
Attendees will hear from senior business leaders and experts on a range of topics including funding; growth; team development; innovation strategy; ESG; exit planning; sales; and technology adoption, in a series of workshops and 1-2-1 sessions.
Guest speakers include Alex Brown, CEO of Gloucester Rugby, who will discuss his transition from rugby into off-field leadership roles and how his approach has steered the club to a strong competitive and commercial position.
Nigel Church, CEO of Emerge Digital, said: 'The county has a huge amount of untapped potential for growth. The plan outlined by the council last year highlights the scope of the opportunities in the region across multiple sectors, especially technology and cyber.
'These events will help businesses to understand the steps they can take to take advantage of these opportunities, improve their offerings, support growth, and help boost the local economy.'
.jpg?width=864&height=454&rmode=pad&bgcolor=ffffff&quality=85&format=webp)
