Advice and support for the small and micro
February 2026
Last week (3rd February 2026), over 180 people came together in Stratford to network, hear from successful local businesses and about the finance, advice and support available to small businesses.
The Business Conference was organised by Stratford on Avon District Council (SDC), and supported by the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub. It was arranged in recognition that the Stratford district has a large number of small businesses and micro-businesses that need to be encouraged and supported.
In December 2024, the number of businesses in the district stood at 8,400. Of these, 90.4% were classed as micro-businesses (0-9 employees), with a further 8.0% being small businesses (10-49 employees). There were 120 medium businesses (50-249 employees), and 15 large businesses (over 250 employees).
Small to medium-size businesses are an important part of our district and communities and the foundation of the local economy. So, it is right that the local council does what it can, by working with partners, to encourage and enable the networking that is so important to the opening of opportunities, connections and help.
One of the key purposes of the conference was to demonstrate a positive partnership between the public and private sectors. The District Council has two functional areas, regulatory and facilitation. Getting the right balance is needed to encourage businesses to thrive. It is also at these events that the Council can learn more about the challenges local business owners are facing and, where possible, address them.
Opportunities were made available to inform businesses of the funding opportunities and resources that could help their businesses to thrive. The SDC Economic Development officers work with partners to facilitate access to advice to help local businesses to grow and prosper.
Local communities feel connected to local small businesses and rely on them for local services. If this is to continue, we need to think ahead about the challenges of the future.
One of the themes of the Business Conference was sustainability and that managing resources needs to be a normal part of business practice. Many companies have long recognised that they need to invest in the resilience of their supply chains and anticipate the future impacts of climate change. The steep rise and volatility in energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine emphasised this.
Being energy and resource efficient is to become much more central to business planning. A report from the Federation of Small Businesses last year highlighted the challenges and opportunities faced by small businesses in the transition to using resources more efficiently and underscores the importance of sustainability in their business operations. It also emphasised that more work needs to be done to make the means to achieve sustainability more accessible for small firms.
The Government is currently looking at a new strategy to guide businesses on resource efficiency and waste prevention. The Circular Economy Strategy, which was expected to be published in October 2025, has been delayed until 2026, but will have implications.
The aims of the Strategy are to bring in measures that will facilitate economic growth by stimulating investment in technologies, sectors and infrastructure that keep resources in circulation for longer, help with economic resilience and increase resource efficiency.
Once clarity is available on what is expected, the Council and partners will do what they can to support local businesses with whatever new ways of working are required.
