The Growth Hub Cheltenham was welcomed to its new home at the MX Innovation Centre by more than 100 people from the town's business community, at an official launch event this November 2024.
The launch on Thursday 21 November 2024 featured insightful talks from county business leaders on the success of The Growth Hub over the past decade as well as the wider state of business in Gloucestershire, along with details of a new government-backed support programme focused on the growth of businesses specifically within Cheltenham.
The event also provided opportunities for networking and a chance to take a tour of the facilities at the MX Centre, located just off Cheltenham high street, including its newly-completed events space along with co-working spaces from Hub8 by Plexal.
Vice chair of Gloucestershire County Council's Economic Growth Board, Ruth Dooley, led proceedings with a talk about the many successes of The Growth Hub in Gloucestershire, before fellow board member Ian Mean MBE, director of Business West for Gloucestershire, spoke about some of the county's most exciting projects and shared his views on what the government's autumn budget will mean for the county.
Ian also shared his belief that future growth in the county is going to come from its thousands of SMEs and micro-businesses, including through collaboration with locals schools to inspire and bring on board future generations — especially in the cyber and digital sectors with one eye on Cheltenham's Golden Valley development.
Andrew Roughan, CEO of Plexal — which led the development of the MX Innovation Centre with support from Cheltenham Borough Council — then shared information about a new government-funded support programme for Cheltenham businesses, Grown in Cheltenham.
Together with a panel of local business owners signed up to the programme, Andrew spoke of how Plexal's innovation team, along with experts from The Growth Hub, are working to create custom plans to help 'co-pilot' up-and-coming SMEs through their growth journeys, with a focus on creating local impact and driving regional economic growth.
Businesses who're interested in the programme, in taking up co-working spaces with Hub 8, or in taking advantage of fully-funded business support from The Growth Hub, should contact Hub 8 or The Growth Hub respectively online — or pop into the MX Centre.
