The Director of Regeneration and Place has approved the commencement of two procurement exercises to commission specialist business support provision at a total value of £300,000. The first commission is for an accelerator or ‘innovation sprint’ programme for an emerging cluster of creative, digital, and tech businesses and entrepreneurs in Wirral. The second commission is for a specialist support programme that will offer Wirral music industry peer-to-peer support through a network of experts in the field. Subject to the successful appointment of suitable qualified providers, in accordance with the Most Economically Advantageous Tender evaluation criteria, both commissions are expected to commence in July 2024 and complete by 31 March 2025.

The allocation of UKSPF presents an opportunity for the Council to invest in specialist business support that will accelerate business growth and innovation within key clusters. The commissioned activity directly aligns with the agreed UKSPF Investment Plan and Wirral Council’s Delivery Plan and grant allocation for the Place Based Business Support programme element.
The commissions will be funded using the Council's allocation of UK Shared Prosperity Funding from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority under the Place Based Business Support (PBBS) programme element of the UKSPF Investment Plan.

The Council could decide not to proceed with the commissioning of specialist sector business support. This would present a significant missed opportunity to the Council in not fully utilising its total allocation of UK Shared Prosperity grant funding by 31 March 2025, as any UKSPF grant that has not been spent by this date will be returned to Government. Not proceeding with, or delaying the commissioning of, specialist sector support would place the Council at risk of not delivering it’s PBBS Delivery Plan, underperforming against funder targets and financial clawback of UKSPF if it is unable to achieve outputs by 31 March 2025.