It is challenging times at present for small and medium Somerset businesses. In response, the five Somerset councils (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset County Council, Somerset West and Taunton and South Somerset) have devised a programme of support to help businesses develop the skills they need to thrive, whatever the economic environment.

The spring business resilience webinars on offer will feature advice, guidance and top tips on key areas of finance, marketing and HR, plus ten businesses will have the opportunity for one-to-one sessions after each webinar with top specialist advisors.

The two-hour business resilience webinars will focus on the following themes:

Financial Resilience - Providing support and tools to help businesses identify their weak spots, skills to protect the bottom line and ideas to help businesses become more attractive to funders.

Finding, recruiting and retaining top talent - Supporting businesses by providing practical tools and advice to support SMEs in attracting the right people to improve business resilience

How to use marketing in an economic downturn - Helping businesses to understand and define their offer, why branding is important and how to use it, find the right audience and develop a plan of action

One-to-One support sessions -1-2-1s will be offered to 10 businesses after each webinar and consist of a two-hour session with a specialist advisor. This will include an action plan to take away to build resilience in your business.

Cllr Val Keitch, Somerset County Council's Executive Lead Member with responsibility for Prosperity, said: "A key element of the Council's business support package is the delivery of a series of workshops and one-to-one support to build business resilience. This support will help local businesses develop the skills they need to cope with uncertainty, survive in challenging economic circumstances, and take advantage of new opportunities ahead."

This pilot programme is funded by a proportion of the Business Rates Retention Pilot Programme and is run by the five district councils. It is designed to be a precursor to a longer programme of business resilience support, which will run throughout the year.

For further information and to book a place, please contact: [email protected]