We are a city that champions inclusive growth, where businesses as well as people who live here are given equal opportunities to succeed and grow. One project helping to do just that in the south of Bristol, is the South Bristol Talent Pathway Project.
In recognition of the dedicated work that has been done so far, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has recently awarded the project with the ‘best in the region’ South West award for being ‘All Round Small Business Friendly’. The award was gratefully accepted by Bristol City Council from Lee Nathan, the South West FSB chair, and Sam Holliday, their regional development manager.
The project is fully led by the council, co-funded by the European Social Fund and the West of England Combined Authority as part of Workforce for the Future.
South Bristol Talent Pathway helps small to medium sized businesses to grow by showing them how to access the support they need for training and development, as well as linking them up with talented young people from local schools and colleges via Bristol WORKS, a city wide collaboration between employers, learning providers and local communities. The team has recently expanded their support even further by offering funding to businesses if they can give work experience opportunities to any members of their local community.
The project has been up and running since November last year. In a relatively short time, they have helped nearly 70 businesses to improve and grow, by bridging gaps in their staff training, recruiting new members of staff and helping them to take on local apprentices to learn on the job.
Businesses involved so far have been really varied, from hairdressers (Eden Hair), trades (Davis Roofing) and hospitality (The Steam Crane), to charitable organisations such as BS3 Community.
The project has provided such a benefit to businesses in the south, it is hoped that we can continue to build on its success and potentially widen it out to enable even more businesses to access tailored support and guidance from the team.
In the meantime, if you have a small business in South Bristol, drop the team an email to see how they can help you or go to their webpage for more information.