Workshop for the Black Country Industrial Cluster

Aimed at businesses across the Black Country the workshop will provide advice and guidance on how businesses can thrive amidst rising energy costs and decarbonisation challenges.

The transition to net zero creates greater challenges and opportunities for Black Country businesses than any other UK region. Many businesses here depend on competitive energy prices to compete globally, and with an increasingly carbon-conscious customer base, this can be complex to achieve.

Matthew Rhodes, Black Country Industrial Cluster director, said: "The Black Country Industrial Cluster team are delighted to start the year with a free opportunity to share advice and guidance on energy costs, decarbonisation and energy efficiency. Open to organisations across the Black Country, at this event we will also discuss the opportunities the transition to net zero presents for Black Country businesses.

"Building on the success of our first initiative ‘Repowering the Black Country’ where we brought together a community of experts and regional organisations focused on addressing the unique challenge of how to achieve industrial decarbonisation across this region’s diverse supply chains, we aim to continue to bring inward investment to the region, share best practice with our members, advocate at a local and national level, and provide businesses with access to specialist energy engineering knowledge and support."

Black Country Industrial Cluster is proud to be the delivery partners for the Decarbonisation Net Zero Programme in the Black Country and the workshop will be an opportunity to access a share of £35m of grant funding secured by Repowering the Black Country for the West Midlands businesses, provided investments reduce their energy use.

The Black Country Industrial Cluster consists of more than 3,555 Energy Intensive manufacturing businesses across the West Midlands, and is the only one of the seven UK industrial clusters that is inland. The team – a non-profit collaboration founded by Black Country manufacturers themselves _ understand both the challenges and opportunities decarbonisation presents, and work alongside businesses and various local and national government departments, to support and advocate for the development of an innovative and world-leading net zero industrial cluster by 2040. For more information email the team: info@bcinc.org.uk

Spaces are limited for the event and registrations are subject to review.

The programme is in affiliation with the Business Energy Advice Service funded by the Department for Energy Security and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.