EMPTY shop units in Worcester could be turned into mini-workshops for fledging business entrepreneurs, it has emerged.

Council chiefs are considering opening up 'incubator' style pods after the idea has surged in popularity across the UK, including nearby Birmingham.

For several months an in-house panel at Worcester City Council has been investigating employment, and how to drive up the skills gap among people out of work.

The scrutiny committee has now published a 10-page report detailing its findings - with the most exciting idea modelled on a hugely successful 'pod' idea in the Second City.

Birmingham Research Park, in Edgbaston, has a series of incubator-style units people can use for free for up to six months to work on entrepreneurial ideas.

They get top-of-the-range WiFi alongside equipped work space like hot desks, meetings rooms and phones to work on their fledging companies.

It has been running now for two years and the deals have become more flexible, so people working on business ideas don't always have to move on after six months.

The idea has proved so successful different hubs now exist for different business sectors in the city including one for technology at Aston University, one at Digbeth for creative media and another at RBS in Brindley Place.

The city council's Conservative leadership is now being asked to consider a similar model in Worcester.

Bosses are already in talks with different companies about setting them up, with the suggestion beginning to get some momentum.

David Blake, service manager for economic development and planning policy, said: "The way it works is that a local authority puts in the capital and then takes out a capital receipt once an incubator is up and running.

"I am talking to, at the moment at least two different organisations who may be interested in developing them in the city.

"The key to it is making sure there are business premises for them to go to in the future, otherwise they may stay where they are and what you end up with is just a very small business park."

The issue was debated during a recent meeting of the council's scrutiny committee.

Claire Brett, transformation and performance officer, said: "There's a real opportunity with the hub incubators to really create a buzz in Worcester."

Councillor Joy Squires, who chairs the committee, said: "We know at the moment we're not doing enough to keep the graduates who leave the university with high quality qualifications here, or attract enough high quality graduates in.

"I think we all recognise the importance of that.

"It's not just about attracting the 'big headquarters' in (to base themselves in Worcester), I know from personal experience that we've been talking about that since the 1980s.

"It's about the smaller and medium-sized ones too, around the 500-800 employees mark."