Aston Centre for Growth (ABS)

Aston Centre for Growth

Supporting small business growth

Aston Centre for Growth provides leading growth programmes and other practical business support for entrepreneurs, SMEs, business leaders, and students across the community.

The Centre has experience of working with thousands of SMEs to support their business growth through high profile programmes such as the Help to Grow: Management Course and Green Advantage, alongside investment ready pitching competitions, student and graduate focused start-up support and enterprise skills development. ERC, the national Enterprise Research Centre run jointly by Aston University and the University of Warwick, operates at Aston within the Centre for Growth.

We aim to transform the regional economy by working intensively with high-potential entrepreneurs and SMEs – strengthening leadership and management skills, boosting productivity, and promoting genuine inclusive growth.

Our programmes

Help to Grow: Management Course

Join 30,000 senior leaders taking part nationally in this practical management training programme delivered by world-class business schools and industry experts.

Pitch Up

Minerva Birmingham Pitch Up (previously known as Pitchfest WM) is the region's most prestigious pitching event for growth-focused businesses. The programme has put over 125 entrepreneurs directly in front of investors and helped bring more than £3,000,000 of investments to the region's small businesses.

Green Advantage

Green Advantage is a new short course to upskill business leaders and professionals, growing their awareness and understanding of climate and environmental challenges and giving them the skills to build sustainability strategies relevant for their sector and role.

Shropshire Leadership Programme

Small business growth through innovation. This is a fully funded business support programme for businesses located within the Shropshire area.

Social Economy Growth Programmes

Grow and Accelerate your Charity, Social Enterprise or CIC with a fully funded leadership and management training programme plus a grant to support you to increase your trading income.

Aston Programme for Small Business Growth

Fully-funded business support for Greater Birmingham and Solihull and Coventry and Warwickshire LEP business leaders. Benefit from, one-to-one mentoring, online workshops, regional peer-to-peer networking and a clear action plan to apply to your business for growth.

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business UK

Addresses the support gap for growth-orientated small businesses, helping them to unlock their economic and job creation potential. The programme is a partnership between Goldman Sachs, the Goldman Sachs Foundation and leading UK universities.

BSEEN

Award-winning student and graduate start-up programme, get the support you need to set up and grow a new venture in Birmingham.

Aston Enterprise

Helping curious students and graduates to explore, experiment and launch new ideas. We have a number of events and programmes to help you become an opportunity spotter, a creative problem-solver and a passionate do-er.

Our partners

Enterprise Research Centre (ERC)

The Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) was established in February 2013 to answer one central question ‘What drives SME Growth and Productivity?’ and has become the UK’s leading independent centre for research, knowledge and expertise on SME growth and entrepreneurship with a reputation for research that is both rigorous and policy-relevant.

Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME)

Based in Aston Business School at Aston University, CREME delivers leading-edge expertise on business support for ethnic minority entrepreneurs. CREME has transformed the 'perceptions' of ethnic minority entrepreneurs by working with business policy-makers and influential organisations to engage collaboratively with overlooked or disregarded business communities.