Small businesses in the creative and cultural sector in Coventry are being offered support to build on the legacy of Coventry 2021 and Birmingham 2022.
The package of support will see creative businesses and freelancers offered the opportunity to attend workshop sessions to help improve their social media and marketing capabilities, as well as one-to-one sessions with a specialist advisor to look at a range of key topics such as business planning and sales and marketing.
The support programme is being delivered by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce as part of the Coventry City Council-led Coventry Creative Growth & Cultural Tourism Recovery Programme, which is funded by the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund, through the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The programme is supporting creative, tourism & hospitality business across Coventry, and development of new employment and training opportunities in these sectors.
The workshop sessions, all delivered online will begin in September, topics covered include social media and digital marketing top tips, how to build a Google Profile, SEO, email marketing and much more. Sessions are highly interactive, and participants will get to meet fellow business owners in the creative and cultural sector.
Eligible businesses can also benefit from one-to-one advice with a skilled and experienced business advisor, where there will be the opportunity to explore the business in more detail, including opportunities for growth, challenges and how to overcome these, marketing and sales and planning for the future.
Keely Hancox, operations manager at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said a range of businesses could access the support available as the city looks to grow the creative and cultural sector on the back of two major events for the region.
She said: “It has been an incredible period for Coventry and the wider region, with City of Culture and then the Commonwealth Games.
“It’s vitally important that we build on that success and, so, we are delighted to be able to offer small businesses and freelancers across the sector this chance to access a series of workshops and one-to-ones delivered by experts in their field.
“The scope for which businesses can access the help is quite wide and includes everything from advertising and marketing through to museums, galleries and visual arts.
“This is a real opportunity to build on the success of the past couple of years by equipping businesses with new skills to help them grow.”
The full list of sub sectors eligible includes: advertising and marketing; architecture; crafts; design; film, TV, video, radio and photography; IT software and computer services; museums, galleries and libraries; music, performing and visual arts; publishing; animation and visual & special effects; video games; and heritage.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said: “These workshop sessions will be extremely helpful for small businesses, equipping them with the right tools and training they need to be able to grow and flourish. Supporting businesses in establishing themselves and growing helps create jobs for local people and adds to the local economy too, which is exactly what we want.
“I encourage any business to get in touch to see what help is available. Whether it’s attending a workshop to help your business create an online social media presence or having one-to-one support with a specialist advisor, there is a lot of support on offer.”
For more information on the workshops please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ or for one-to-one support please complete our expression of interest form: https://forms.gle/iyCjAvnmQXbr9YBt5
Pictured: Emma Woodward (left) with Chris Hartley