The Black Country Business Festival is an annual, ten-day celebration which aims to boost business, stimulate innovation and shine a spotlight on business our region. The 2021 festival runs from Monday 4 to Friday 15 October and will include over one hundred free events, staged by local businesses across Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Sandwell Council via Think Sandwell will be hosting four events this year, addressing the festival’s core themes of inclusive growth, innovation, business growth, regeneration and ‘this is the Black Country’. At 10am on Tuesday 12 October a panel of experts from the council, local businesses and partner organisations will deliver a presentation of Sandwell Council’s Inclusive Recovery Plan for Business.

This online session will outlining the borough’s ambitions for the next five years and discuss the ways in which these will be achieved in the immediate, short and long term. The action plan for recovery covers a range of topics, such as development opportunities, business growth, skills development, start-up opportunities, inward investment and climate change strategy.

The event is an opportunity to hear about forthcoming investment in skills, connectivity, and town centre regeneration aimed at delivering more and better jobs through growing business. You can also ask questions, and to find out how you may be able to get involved and influence our actions.

To find out more, and to register your place, visit the event website. The other three events hosted by Think Sandwell are about the Towns Fund redevelopment plans, the Smethwick to Birmingham corridor and the Sandwell Aquatics Centre. All are taking place online and are totally free for anyone to attend.