West Midlands Business Festival

The course is designed to help anyone looking to start a new retail business, whether from a shop, a market, from home or online.

The course covers all elements of starting a retail business including writing a business plan, legal and financial planning, marketing, business structures, employing people and personal development covering resilience, change management and leadership skills.

At the end of the course anyone who has attended can submit their business plan and one business will be chosen to get an entire year’s mentorship from the team at The Fort. This will give the winner access to resources, operations, marketing, facilities, accounts and even retail space either at The Fort or another one of Colliers retail destinations in the West Midlands (depending on business needs).

All equipment, course content, marketing and promotional work will be organised and provided through the teams and contractors at The Fort.

The course is an online course involving 6 x 1-hour seminars over a 3-week period. Each session would be duplicated in the morning and evening to allow as many people as possible to access the course. The seminars will run on a Tuesday and Thursday and times will be 9.30am-10.30am and 6.30pm-7.30pm on each day.

The course will be held on the following dates, AM and PM

• Week 1 - 20th and 22nd January
• Week 2 - 27th and 29th January
• Week 3 - 3rd and 5th February

PLEASE NOTE: It is the final week of the course that takes place during the West Midlands Business Festival. To access the course participants must also sign up for the previous two weeks taking place in January 2026.

Book your place now

Location

The Fort Shopping Park, 20 Fort Parkway, Birmingham, B24 9FP