Practical support for your growing business
You’ve started your business. Now you’re working out how to make it stronger.
Leading Growth brings together business growth support in Wales through practical programmes, workshops and community opportunities from Welsh ICE.
From finding customers and developing your team to managing increasing demand, you can choose the support that fits what your business needs now.
Each opportunity has its own focus and audience. You can join a relevant workshop, take part in a structured programme or find an ongoing community to share ideas and questions with.
When running the business leaves little time to develop it
A year or two into running a business, the questions often change. You’ve found customers and learned plenty along the way, but deciding what comes next can feel complicated.
Perhaps you’re:
- Busy, but struggling to increase your income. More work is coming in, yet your time, costs and capacity are under pressure.
- Trying to reach more customers. You need to understand what’s working and where to focus your marketing.
- Thinking about growing your team. Hiring, delegating and developing people bring decisions you may be facing for the first time.
- Finding that everything still depends on you. The systems that helped you get started are becoming harder to manage.
- Missing people to talk things through with. You want useful connections, fresh perspectives and advice that relates to your business.
You might recognise these challenges in your second year or much further down the line. Leading Growth offers practical support to help you understand your options and decide where to focus.
Business growth programmes, workshops and support
Scaling Potential
For businesses already trading that want to work through the barriers to growth.
Growth can put pressure on your finances, your team and the way you work. Scaling Potential is a five-week online programme that gives you time and support to examine those pressures and plan your next steps.
Across five sessions, you’ll explore:
- Strategic positioning and your business model.
- Marketing for growth
- Growth-focused cashflow.
- Working smarter with AI and systems.
- Your priorities and a practical 90-day plan, presented to the Next Level Board.
The programme also includes founder office hours.
£199 per business and the programme launches once the minimum cohort is confirmed.
Pen y Cymoedd business workshops
Focused sessions to help established businesses address everyday trading challenges.
Delivered through our work with Pen y Cymoedd, these standalone workshops give you space to focus on a specific part of your business and identify changes you can put into practice.
Starting with Maximising Christmas Footfall, the series covers:
- Reaching new customers and bringing previous customers back.
- AI tools for busy businesses.
- Marketing in 2027.
- Digital basics for retail.
- Cost control and cashflow.
You can attend one, several or all of the workshops, depending on what’s useful to you.
These workshops are for established businesses within the eligible Pen y Cymoedd area. Check the individual listings for eligibility, dates, locations and booking details.
ICE Enterprise Placement
Give someone in your team space to think differently.
ICE Enterprise Placement gives employees the opportunity to work from Welsh ICE for one or two days a week while continuing in their usual role.
Working alongside founders and growing businesses offers opportunities to build professional connections, hear different perspectives and explore new approaches to challenges.
For employers, it’s a way to support someone’s development and help them bring fresh thinking back into the organisation.
ICE Connect
Stay connected to a business community, wherever you work.
Running a business can leave you with plenty of decisions and few people to discuss them with. ICE Connect helps you stay part of the Welsh ICE community without needing a desk at the hub.
Through our online community, member directory and access to selected events and expert support, you can meet other business owners, ask questions and build useful relationships.
ICE Connect is £5 a month and is already included in other Welsh ICE memberships.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us a little about your business, what you’re working towards and what’s getting in the way. We’ll help you identify which Welsh ICE opportunities could be relevant to you.
You don’t need to arrive with a finished growth plan. A question or a challenge is a good place to begin.
Funding & partnerships
Some of our Leading Growth Series courses are funded by local councils, businesses and schools, helping us bring the programme to more areas across Wales. If you’re an organisation interested in running a course with us in your area, find out how to partner with us.