Wirralbiz roots go back as far as the opening of Business Link Wirral in 1994. Mike Raworth, one of the two directors of Wirralbiz had been a trainer and business advisor for Wirral Business Link in the days when training took place in the now demolished Brassey Street School, before everything moved to Egerton House.

The Wirralbiz start up programme was created in 2005 when Government Office N.W. made the decision to partner with the Merseyside Local Authorities for the remaining 3 years of the 2000-2008 objective one funding.
In 2009 wirralbiz’s tender to be the exclusive business start up provider for Wirral was successful. Originally the N.W. region wide intensive start up support (ISUS) programme was intended to run till 2014, but David Cameron’s dislike of Regional Agencies forced cessation of the ISUS programme in December 2011.

During the two and half years of the ISUS programme Wirralbiz helped in creation of a staggering 836 new businesses on Wirral, far exceeding the demanding targets set. Also, independent research recorded that Wirralbiz scored over 90% in customer satisfaction surveys with others not exceeding 70%.

Since December 2011 when ISUS funding ceased Wirralbiz is currently funding the programme from its own resources. Application has been made for ERDF and a successful outcome is anticipated in the near future.
One of flaws in all business start up funding has been the lack of resources to provide meaningful support for start ups during their first months after their launch. A small measure of advice might have been available but no funding to turn that advice into action, thereby aiding sales and ultimately sustainability and profitability.

Wirralbiz is now able to redress this major weakness by offering advice and action in conjunction with another ERDF funding initiative. Making Business Work. This enables wirralbiz to spend meaningful time analysing how a business can increase its performance and then by utilizing wirralbiz many services turn advice into action.

There is a limit to the number of Wirral SME’s that can supported by the current funding. So if the Making Business Work project could help your business please contact us sooner rather than later.