3b evolved out of the turmoil that characterised the United Kingdom inner cities in the 1980s.The organisation was registered as a Local Enterprise Agency (LEA) in February 1986 and (since its inception) has traded as a Company Limited by Guarantee. In 1990, the organisation was re-constituted and a new Board of Directors was appointed. Their specific remit was to target resources at growth orientated African and Caribbean owned businesses.

Recognising the need for an organisation focused on addressing the specific requirements of existing African and Caribbean Businesses, the agency sought to develop new and innovative services and programmes, for the benefits of its client companies, inclusive of:

The future for 3b is to be a champion for Community Economic Empowerment, engaging African and Caribbean entrepreneurs in the process of wealth creation through enterprise. By also being a catalyst for the building of meaningful strategic alliances between the African and Caribbean business community, and mainstream corporate and public sector partners.

Within the economic context of the West Midlands Regional Economic Strategy, the organisation's purpose is to promote the commercial advantage of the inner city as a place for inward investment and a locality for doing business.

The arrival of the Small Business Service, and the Government's emphasis on inclusion and providing accessible services for 'hard to reach' clients, has allowed organisations like 3b to be more engaged with those mainstream organisations responsible for the provision of enterprise support. 3b is very much a specialist in the area of working with ethnic minority communities, especially African Caribbean businesses. The arrival of the Phoenix Fund and 3b as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), will assist in the objective of developing further successful enterprises among ethnic minorities through Finance and Support.

3b remains the only 'not for profit' agency with its own seed-corn finance (since its inception in 1986). 3b has been servicing the clients of the Birmingham Enterprise Network and others who are actively engaged in the enterprise support market. With the intervention of the Phoenix Fund, the 3b CDFI (the largest of its type in the West Midlands Region), can now provide financial support to start-up and existing businesses. These should be located in Birmingham, Solihull, or in the Black Country boroughs of Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Walsall and Dudley. It is anticipated that the 3b CDFI will more than double the private sector leverage secured for its clients over the next two years.