Our story

In 2021, Business West became a Certified B Corp, which recognises us as a business that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

Last year (2020) presented unprecedented challenges following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and our exit from the EU. During these challenging times we have been working tirelessly to ensure businesses get the support and information they need quickly. Our hubs on this website, Trading through Coronavirus and Trading through Brexit are designed to keep businesses up to date and to help them safely navigate these new uncharted waters.

As the world adapts to a new way of working, commerce becomes more challenging and business problems more complex, we will continue to do what we have done for almost 200 years; we will be there for business.

The purpose of Business West is to help businesses of all sizes take advantage of the opportunities and address the problems created by this new world so  they may successfully start, grow, export and innovate. 

But we want more than just economic prosperity.  

Our desire is for an inclusive region rich in culture, devoid of inequality, that celebrates diversity. Put simply, we want this region to be the place for all to live, work, learn and prosper.

Twenty four thousand (24,000) businesses connectwith us, including many brave entrepreneurs who have gone on to improve the quality of life for themselves, their families and the wider community; SMEs exporting globally who provide employment for tens of thousands of people that make up our diverse communities and enterprise companies who selected the southwest for growth, tempted no doubt by the prospect of an aspirational region rich in culture, creativity, connectivity and talent. 

A region’s success, after all, hinges on its ability to produce and sell goods and services. Business success today means more jobs for tomorrow, better transportation, education, hospitals, parks and the opportunity to achieve our goal of creating houses that people can afford. 

We encourage local councils to communicate with each other to create region-wide joined up solutions. We challenge central government policy over issues that impact on the southwest – a whole raft of issues - from infrastructure, transport and digital connectivity to energy, housing and skills. 

We have many faces and are proud of our many successes. Our top level stats show that over a two year period we helped create 4,400 jobs in our region, supporting more than 1,400 businesses to start-up and scale-up as well as hundreds more to seize the opportunities that innovation offers.  International trade continues to be a large part of our offering to businesses with over 2,000 companies assisted with their plans to export – 700 of these generating £650 million of export sales. 

And we won’t stop there. 

Not having to pay dividends and with  no stock market to impress, we are in the privileged position of being able to deep dive in order to understand what is really holding business back.

Our unique journey has taught us how to ask the right questions so we understand exactly what a business needs to succeed and then deliver best in class solutions to make success a reality. 

We will continue to produce in-depth analysis and share freely with the business community, so they can make informed decisions faster, and with government negotiators so that they have evidence to strike the right deals.

When business grows the result is a better future for everyone, owners, stakeholders, employees and the region as a whole.