Workspace provider Bruntwood Works has launched a new initiative to help businesses unlock growth opportunities as it expands the range of services it provides to customers across its communities.
‘Spark by Bruntwood Works’ has been designed in partnership with small business support network, Enterprise Nation, to provide management teams of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the support needed to develop new ideas, take the next step on their growth journeys and navigate the challenges created by coronavirus.
It will also inspire further collaboration among businesses within the Bruntwood Works community and encourage knowledge-sharing among the company’s network of 55,000 customers and 2,000 member businesses across Birmingham, Cheshire, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.
Through the Spark programme, businesses will have access to tailored guidance on a broad range of topics, from finance, HR and legal issues to advice on sales, marketing and digital strategies. This advice will be provided free of charge through one-to-one online sessions, with the view to expanding the programme to include face-to-face sessions once social distancing measures are relaxed.
Ciara Keeling, CEO of Bruntwood Works, said: “Over the last few months businesses of all sizes have been turned upside down as a result of coronavirus. Many have been forced to change their ways of working and pivot their business models overnight – lockdown has had huge ramifications across every sector of the economy and we have been working hard to ensure that all of our customers have access to the support they need throughout the crisis.
“Through our partnership with Enterprise Nation we will be able to provide a programme of support that can tangibly help companies within the Bruntwood Works network take hold of new opportunities for growth, as well as respond to some of the challenges they now face.
“Spark will complement our unique programme of customer events and allows us to go beyond the provision of individual and flexible workspaces to providing everything our community needs to connect and thrive. This an integral aspect of the way we do business and something we’re committed to evolving as we support the growth of the communities across our four core cities.”
The Spark programme will also leverage the digital capabilities of Enterprise Nation and includes a new webinar series that will be hosted on The Collective, Bruntwood Works’ digital community. Bruntwood Works will survey its portfolio of more than 2,000 member businesses to understand exactly what they need to help them succeed, before working closely with Enterprise Nation to build a bespoke programme of activity that can provide tangible support to those businesses that need it most.
Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, added: “It’s fantastic to see Bruntwood Works acting so quickly to develop a super-targeted support programme for firms within its network. As we move out of lockdown and slowly start getting back to work safely, initiatives like this will be incredibly important to share knowledge and ideas as well as deliver specific advice and motivation when it’s very much needed.”
Bruntwood Works creates, owns and manages inspiring workspace, retail and leisure environments across the North and Midlands. In 2019, it launched the Pioneer Programme – a £50m transformation scheme – to create a variety of new, vibrant spaces for customers to work from, to help encourage collaboration with like-minded businesses across neighbouring buildings and to provide access to health and wellbeing facilities as part of Bruntwood Works’ commitment to wellness.
