SHROPSHIRE Council says it has handed out almost £170 million of business grants to businesses in the last 20 months to help boost the county's economy.

Shropshire’s Economic Recovery Taskforce has been working hard to bring Shropshire through the challenges of the last 20 months with the Covid-19 pandemic.

They will be helping further with a workshop called "What’s next for Shropshire 2022 – 2027?” workshop will look to establish the roadmap out of the crisis and create the conditions for resilient, sustainable, inclusive and healthy economic growth in the future for the county.

Ed Potter, Shropshire Council’s deputy leader, and Cabinet member for economic growth, planning and regeneration, insists he and his colleagues have support businesses to meet this challenge of staying afloat.

“We have been through unprecedented times, which has meant significant disruption to the economy in Shropshire," he said.

"We met this challenge head-on and now want to plan the way forward.

“We invite stakeholders, business leaders and interested parties within Shropshire to join us in person or online to help us shape the future of the county’s economy.”

The conference and workshops will be held on Wednesday, November 3 from 9am to 12.30pm at the Sovereign Suite at Shrewsbury Town Football Club and will be a hybrid event offering the opportunity to attend either in person or online.

The numbers for attending the event in person will be limited to 150; however, the live streaming of the event will enable participants to contribute online to the workshops and collaborative activities.

A spokesman: "(We) were quick to react to the pandemic and established the taskforce to focus on how best to support Shropshire’s economy through this extremely difficult period, and beyond.

"Key partners, stakeholders and organisations from across the county joined together to discuss how best to meet the challenge and what steps to take to both restart and revitalise the economy.

"The achievements through the task force have included the delivery of 34,067 business grants to the value of nearly £170m, plus numerous other projects, run by both the council and partners, to support market towns, communities and individuals.

"This has included a £2.76m Economic Recovery Fund alongside the High Street/Welcome Back Fund and Town Centre Recovery Programmes."