Inside Wolverhampton’s Social Economy: How Access to Business Is Powering Local Change
30th October 2025
The heart of the Black Country: Why Access to Business is trailblazing the social economy in Wolverhampton
If you want to find a real engine room of social change in the West Midlands, you need to go to Wolverhampton and meet the team at Access to Business (A2B). This isn’t just an organisation, it’s a movement led by people who genuinely live and breathe community commitment.
In my recent visit to Access to Business, I wanted to better understand Wolverhampton’s socioeconomic landscape; the types of social entrepreneurs and social enterprises emerging and discover what A2B’s vision is for the next few years. Access to Business is the social economy cluster lead for Wolverhampton as part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) inclusive growth plans. A2B was also a local delivery partner for key regional initiatives like the West Midlands Social Enterprise Boost Fund (SEBF) which resulted in the opening of a new social enterprise centre to provide a dedicated base for the city’s burgeoning social sector.
Access to Business origin story
A2B didn’t start as a powerhouse; it started as an idea with a clear mission. It was initially a small project funded by Wolverhampton Council, with just three members of staff supporting around 100 people a year with skills and pathways to employment and self-employment.
The turning point came in 2007 when the organisation secured a vital Lottery bid, bringing in an additional £355,000 to help A2B grow its reach and impact. Further growth was supported by securing European Funds.
The securing of an EU Funded Equal project ran for four years, focused on supporting people with disabilities, health issues, and cognitive impairments to gain skills and confidence, moving them closer to work.The project was recognised as an outstanding success, highlighted by A2B taking eight of its disabled beneficiaries to the European Parliament in Brussels to speak to MEPs about the project’s impact.
Today, A2B runs with a team of 13 staff, all meeting a consistently high demand for their services. However, as Josie notes, the sector is battling now more than ever to become sustainable. That’s why A2B’s involvement in the broader social and supporting grassroots enterprises is so crucial. A2B have also grown their own commercial service income streams including accredited and non-accredited courses and business office shared services.
To find out more about the social economy cluster work in Wolverhampton, see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYPW4dYrIZw
The People
You can’t talk about A2B without starting with Josie Kelly. Her story is a perfect example of how lived experience fuels profound commitment. Born in a deprived area of the West Midlands and an early career working at Tarmac Construction where she was one of the founding members of their staff fundraising Social Group, Josie was always dedicated to helping others and supporting the charity and voluntary sector. Josie’s leadership has been formally recognised in the City this year. She was a finalist and won ‘Leader of the Year’ in the Wolverhampton BID Excellence Awards 2025 and Access to Business also won the Community Champion Award at the same event. A few weeks later A2B also won the ‘Excellence in Community Services’ award at the Nachural Summer Business Awards. In 2024 A2B celebrated its 20th anniversary with a 20th Anniversary Ball attended by 220 partners made up of stakeholders, local businesses, supporters and beneficiaries. Josie said her journey into the social economy truly began when she raised an initial £2,000 for a Disability charity when she first worked at Tarmac.
I also met with Baldeep Dhillon, Senior Business Advisor, who is equally dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs. As she told me about the brilliant social enterprises she’s been supporting, you could see real pride in her eyes. Some of the amazing businesses mentioned included Magical Mind Coaching; NICS Wellbeing CIC; Reinvntd; Cue Sports; Susan Vickers Foundation | Empowering Care Experienced Individuals in the UK. Baldeep has also supported women entrepreneurs on the A2B’s Natwest WISE (Women into Self-Employment/Social Enterprise) programme as well as leading the BGWM, Community Hub for Wolverhampton.
Trailblazing initiatives and a vision for the next 5 years
A2B is not resting on its laurels. Their action plan for the next five years is ambitious, practical, and focused on building a resilient social economy city. These are the initiatives that are truly trailblazing the path forward:
- a key priority is to significantly grow a network of social economy champions from the corporate and public sectors.
- securing a permanent home as a large Social Enterprise Centre will be a huge step in ensuring A2B’s long-term stability and capacity to support the sector.
- Wolverhampton social economy directory is A2B’s online marketplace planned to launch in February 2026. It will be an invaluable tool for connecting social enterprises and making it easier for public and corporate partners to buy and invest locally.
The importance of social economy champions
A2B is committed to growing the number of social economy champions, which currently stands at 9 business leaders, stakeholders and funders from private and public sectors. Organisations like Taylor Woodrow, Mitie and the McCauliffe Group have employees who have volunteered as champions and act as ambassadors for the social economy.
Champions can significantly increase their impact by procuring with purpose. They can also provide direct investment, sponsorship, or pro-bono support to social enterprises and use their influence to embed social value into their own organisation’s policies and local government tenders.
Social enterprise directory and brochure
Access to Business has been working on launching a Wolverhampton Social Economy Directory, a first of its kind for the West Midlands region. I had the privilege of seeing the prototype on my visit. What a great tool and I am sure it will make a real difference in supporting social enterprises and buyers. If you are operating in Wolverhampton and you are a registered CIC, Cooperative or trading charity you can register and profile your products and services. Alongside the directory is a brochure for buyers, promoting a range of services delivered by the social economy.
The future of Wolverhampton’s social economy looks bright, thanks to the commitment of the A2B team!
Access to Business is also hosting two of their own Social Enterprise events on 18th and 20th November as part of the annual WMCA Social Economy Drive week:
Building a Stronger Wolverhampton Business Economy – Driving Social Value
Wolverhampton Social Economy Reunion
