Business growth consultancy, Rockfine Group, has supported 80 businesses in the Worcestershire region to achieve measurable growth with financial support from the Elevate Growth programme.

The Elevate Growth programme is designed to give already successful businesses expert advice and guidance on scaling their business, whether that’s through innovation adoption, management restructure, new technologies or more commonly, increased sales.

Worcestershire County Council (WCC) selected Rockfine Group to provide the service through an open tender process in July 2023.  In the 15 months Rockfine has been delivering the programme for WCC, businesses have received:

• Nearly 1,000 tailored hours of 1:1 support from expert business coaches
• 70 hours of time with like-minded peers discussing business challenges and opportunities
• Deep-dive specialist support in the areas of LinkedIn/social media, artificial intelligence, PR and communications, B2B and B2C marketing messages, time management and SMART goals

The support has been welcomed by business owners and management teams, resulting in a reported:

• 41 jobs created
• 36 jobs safeguarded
• 75 businesses with improved productivity
• 55 businesses introducing new technologies into their business
• 12 businesses launching new products or services to the market

Additionally, through the networking and introductions made by the business coaches, we know at least 10 of the businesses are now working with another local Worcestershire businesses.

“We have benefitted greatly from the 1:1 coaching and peer sessions through the Elevate Growth programme, giving us a platform to talk through business challenges and learn effective strategies from others” notes Adam Buick, owner of Kidderminster-based Top Escape Rooms.

“Our business expansion during the programme meant we immediately applied the new concepts and realised increased profits and employee retention. Thank you Worcestershire County Council.”

Worcestershire County Council is very pleased with the outstanding service companies have received through Rockfine’s delivery of the Elevate Growth programme, as pointed out by Wendy Garrad, Business Growth Team Manager: “The team at Rockfine Group have been a pleasure to work with and delivered an excellent service to the businesses participating in the Elevate Growth programme. The spread of support throughout the region (across Redditch, Bromsgrove, Wychoven, Kidderminster, Wyre Forest and Worcester City) demonstrates the reach of their network and value of their expertise.  Their engaging style and value-driven interactions resulted in the successful, 100% completion of all participants ahead of schedule, with impeccable record keeping and “outstanding” client satisfaction.”

“We are thrilled to have delivered such a valuable and impressive programme to so many amazing businesses in Worcestershire” notes Rockfine Group’s managing director, Michelle Dalton.  “From project initiation through to the final claim, our team have been impressed with the dedicated support provided by Worcestershire County Council to its resident businesses, and the supporting grant structure to implement the growth plans created through the business support service.”

Worcestershire-based companies still wanting to take advantage of this fantastic support should reach out directly to WCC as there are a very few number of places left on the overall programme.