Older manufacturers wanted as Silver Founders launches in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country

A dedicated new business support programme is coming to Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country with the aim of unleashing the potential of older entrepreneurs involved in manufacturing.

Silver Founders, which is launching as part of Business Growth West Midlands Investment Readiness Programme and is funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), is looking to help 60 people aged 50+ to start or develop their own business by giving them access to specialist advice and guidance.

Delivered by Oxford Innovation Advice, the five week in-person course will create an environment where like-minded individuals can work together to boost skillsets, explore sales and marketing and, importantly, understand different funding options they can tap into.

It is a move that is looking to address the growing number of over 50s in the UK, which stands at 10.4million, a 2.4million increase on the last decade.

Some of these are struggling to get back into employment after redundancy, want a fresh career change or are keen to pour years of knowledge into their own venture.

“There are so many good ideas, so much experience and so much business passion among the over 50s that goes unnoticed – that’s why we wanted to create Silver Founders and bring it to potential entrepreneurs or early-stage manufacturers in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country,” explained Vernon Hogg of Oxford Innovation Advice, who has more than five years’ experience in this specialist field.

“We have put together a bespoke five weeks of in-person learning for up to 20 people per cohort. It is designed to walk them through the journey of turning an idea into a business and, for those already doing it, the opportunity to explore how they can grow quicker.”

He continued: “The current generation of Silver Founders are more comfortable with

technology and need to prolong their working lives because their pension pots are not sufficient to support them.

“Some also find it harder to get back into the workplace after redundancy – finding age discrimination as a contentious issue in applying for new work, so are attracted to entrepreneurship. This is where we come in.”

Silver Founders, which is being delivered in partnership with the British Business Bank, starts with an onboarding session and introduction with the emphasis on community building, identifying shared issues and addressing some of the business support organisations who may be able to help along the way.

The next four weeks take an interactive dive into how to access finance, business structures and planning, cashflow forecasting, scaling-up and the importance of networking, social media and marketing.

Direct referrals to organisations that can help entrepreneurs are made throughout the course, with the last session focused on a celebration event to foster and extend the community spirit.

Vernon continued: “Silver Founders is based on the hugely successful Founders Collective Programme we have been running since 2022 – with a few specialist tweaks.

“In the previous two years, we have supported 250 entrepreneurs to launch and helped them raise almost £2.4m of external funding. We’re hoping we can do the same for the raft of older manufacturing leaders in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country, creating a vibrant and interactive community that will capture and build on the talent we know is definitely out there.”