Insight 37 - Magazine - Page 34
Left to right: Tom Pike (Strategic Director, Stevenage Borough Council), Adrian Hawkins OBE (Chair, Stevenage Development Board), Dom
McKenna (Chair, Wenta), Cllr Richard Henry (Leader of Stevenage Borough Council) and Cllr Lloyd Briscoe (Portfolio Holder - Economy and
Transport at Stevenage Borough Council)
LEADER OF STEVENAGE BOROUGH COUNCIL,
CLLR RICHARD HENRY, CELEBRATES WENTA’S
40TH ANNIVERSARY IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL
STEVENAGE BUSINESSES
N
ot-for-profit, social enterprise,
Wenta, together with the Leader
of Stevenage Borough Council,
Cllr Richard Henry, and other local
Stevenage stakeholders have recently
attended Wenta’s 40th Anniversary
celebrations at The House of Commons,
in support of the Stevenage business
community. Since 2009, Wenta, one of the
largest enterprise agencies in England, has
managed The Business and Technology
Centre (btc) on Bessemer Drive on behalf
of Stevenage Borough Council, providing
vital free business advice, skills training
and affordable workspace, meeting rooms
and virtual services.
Since 2009, Stevenage Borough
Council’s partnership with Wenta has
created a trusted, local hub of support for
Stevenage residents and businesses. The
partnership has enabled 2741 residents
to be upskilled or trained in business
skills and 466 new businesses to start up,
creating 67.9 million pounds of GVA from
jobs created and new start-up businesses.
As part of Wenta’s 40th celebrations, the
event also saw the launch of Wenta’s
34
first business research paper, ‘Action
Zero: The Wenta Experience of guiding
small firms on their net zero journey’,
a partnership between The Enterprise
Research Centre (ERC) in and Wenta. One
year on since launching ‘Action Zero’ in
Stevenage, the revolutionary initiative to
help as many businesses as possible to
reduce their carbon footprint has so far
helped 113 local business owners to begin
their net zero journey.
Other local attendees of the event
included Tom Pike, Strategic Director at
Stevenage Borough Council, Cllr Lloyd
Briscoe – Portfolio Holder for Economy and
Transport at Stevenage Borough Council,
Adrian Hawkins OBE (Chair, Stevenage
Development Board and Chair, Herts
LEP), Kit Davies (Principal, North Herts
College) and Stephen Boulton (Executive
Member for Sustainable Economic Growth,
Hertfordshire County Council).
Leader of Stevenage Borough Council,
Cllr Richard Henry, said:
“Stevenage Borough Council and Wenta
are continuing to work together on helping
as many local business owners as possible
to reduce their carbon footprint. Wenta
have developed a unique and simplified
support service for small business owners
to embark on their net zero journey. We
are proud to have Wenta in Stevenage and
we look forward to growing our impact at
The Business and Technology Centre even
further in the coming years to help more
people in Stevenage to start, run and grow
their own businesses.”
To find out more about The Business &
Technology Centre on Bessemer Drive
visit: www.btcstevenage.co.uk and www.
wenta.co.uk or call 01438 310000.
bIZ4BIZ INSIGHT MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2024
To claim your free business ‘Action Zero’
Gold Subscription, visit: www.wenta.
co.uk/actionzero