Safe and Strong

47% of all fires attended by UK Fire and Rescue Services are started deliberately. How easily could someone start a fire within or around your building? For tips to prevent arson on your premises or to find out more about the cost of Arson to your business visit https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Arson

Our firefighters can’t be in two places at once, so if they’re attending a false alarm it means they’re not able to respond to our most serious incidents. Although we’ve been working with partners to reduce the number of false alarms – about a third in recent years – there’s still a lot of work to do.

Better Business for All (BBfA) brings together businesses and regulators to consider and change how local regulation is delivered and received. It involves the creation of local partnerships to identify the issues facing local businesses and shape the provision of effective support services to them. It gives the businesses in a defined area access to help that is tailored to their needs, making it easier for them to ‘get it right first time’.
The gov.uk website also provides further information about Better Business for All

Any incident, large or small, whether it is natural, accidental or deliberate, can cause major disruption to your organisation. HM Government has produced a free to download booklet that helps you prepare for emergencies. This is called the Business Continuity Management (BCM) Toolkit.

BCM is about identifying those parts of your business that you can’t afford to lose- such as information, stock, premises, staff – and planning how to maintain these, if an incident occurs. Here is where you can download the booklet.

The business fire safety awareness tool is an interactive tool by the National Fire Chiefs Council to help small business owners understand their legal duties for fire safety in the workplace.

Click to view the Business Fire Safety Awareness tool.

We are experts in fire safety and offer a range of quality training courses covering different areas. Our highly skilled teams can offer courses to both small and large businesses and you can find out more about what we offer on our training section.

Your local council can often provide a wealth of information to help businesses and may have services in your area to assist you. We’ve listed the local council business support areas for each council below:

• Birmingham City Council
• Coventry City Council
• Solihull Council
• Sandwell Council
• Dudley Council
• Wolverhampton Council
• Walsall Council

Working with the police and other key partners we are targeting the key drivers of crime to stop crimes happening in the first place. You can find out more about West Midlands police and how to get in touch with them here https://www.westmidlands-pcc.gov.uk/

The Federation of Small Businesses is a not-for-profit organisation that offers members a wide range of vital business services including advice, financial expertise and support.

We provide guidance on fire safety, covering areas such as fire risk assessments, we also provide easy access to government guides and you can find out more about fire safety in the workplace on the gov.uk website.

A chamber of commerce (or board of trade) is a form of business network whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community. They are available across 3 areas, we’ve listed them below:

• Black Country Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
• Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce
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The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (BCLEP) aims to create the conditions for enterprise to flourish resulting in greater economic prosperity across the Black Country area.

Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP aims to create jobs, grow the economy and raise the quality of life in Greater Birmingham and Solihull.

The Coventry and Warwick LEP has a Growth Hub and Champions scheme. It aims to help businesses grow their bottom line by providing impartial, commercially focused and joined-up advice that’s free.

West Midlands Fire Service can offer advice on the safe storage of fireworks and petrol. We also provide licenses and certificates for storing these products. You can find out more about certificates and licenses here.

The West Midlands Combined Authority is led by the Mayor of the West Midlands and the leaders of the seven constituent local authorities. The leadership also includes the chairs of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) which are business-led organisations that help build relationships between businesses and local authorities. They can provide advice and support in a variety of areas of business, transport, economy and growth within the West Midlands.