THE merger of Business Link Herefordshire and Worcestershire with Business Link Shropshire will take place on Friday April 1, it has been announced.
The move means businesses in the area will have access to one of the strongest support agencies in the country and the efficiencies gained from it will mean more public money will reach the local firms.
The Chambers of Commerce, which delivers the Business Link services on behalf of the government, will remain separate.
Business Link West Mercia, as it will be known, will concentrate on small and medium-sized businesses and specialise in rural economic development.
The new combined organisation will have offices in Worcester and Hereford, and in Telford and Oswestry, in Shropshire. The Chamber of Commerce Herefordshire and Worcestershire's office in Redditch will close.
There will be 39 potential redundancies.
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