You are Meera Dutton, Enterprise Director at the Aldwater Regional Growth Partnership. Misallocate the fund and you lose the council's trust and the town's last momentum.
Aldwater is a former textile town of 38,000 whose high street has 31 percent vacancy. Two national retailers have exited, and the remaining economy is roughly 240 micro-enterprises: cafes, trades, makers, and a fragile digital cluster. Central government has awarded a one-off 4 million pound levelling-up grant with an 18-month spend deadline. Councillors want a visible landmark project. Local founders want cheaper premises and customers. Everyone agrees decline must stop, but no one agrees where scarce money creates lasting enterprise rather than a photo opportunity.
You decide how a regional agency should spend a fixed fund to revive small-business vitality in a declining market town.