Slough Borough Council wants to ‘reinvigorate’ relations with local businesses after ‘suffering’ since the pandemic and through the authority’s financial troubles.

The local authority has announced the formation of the new business partnership board, in which firms can share their expertise and experiences with council members and officials.

Slough Borough Council has announced the new initiative in hope it will encourage big and small businesses alike to join.

The top 20 businesses of the region have been sent invitations from the council’s chief executive Will Tuckley – but the council has said that it wants smaller businesses to be part of the partnership too.

The first meeting and launch of the business partnership board will take place on October 9.

Slough Borogh Council chief executive Will Tuckley said: “The council has traditionally had strong ties with its business community but, when Covid hit and our financial troubles began, we understandably looked inwards to solve them, and our partnership suffered.”

Mr Tuckley added that the council want to ‘reinvigorate our economic partnerships’ and ‘strengthen the bonds’ it has with businesses. This will ensure that Slough ‘continues to be an economic success story both for business and our residents’.

The chief executive further said that Slough’s economic status ‘remains robust and resilient’.

The authority effectively declared bankruptcy in 2021 and has since been trying to raise funds.

In July this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Slough Borough Council could overspend by £15 million this financial year.

The council is heading for an overspend of almost £32m in 2028-29 according to an auditor’s report. ‘Years of neglect’ from the previous Labour administration and national challenges have been blamed for its ongoing budget issues.

Councillor Dexter Smith, in charge of the council, highlighted the town’s strong history of business. Cllr Smith said: “Slough is a town built around businesses like High Duty Alloys, which came to Slough Trading Estate in 1928 and provided many of the components needed for the British aircraft industry, supplying Europe’s largest aircraft production factory during World War two.”

He added that today Slough is home to ‘large mainstays’ including Mars and has ‘the world’s greatest concentration of data centres’. As well as this, ‘hundreds of smaller companies’ provide services for residents across the area.

Businesses interested in joining the Slough Business Partnership board can check the council website for more information ahead of the first meeting held on October 9.