Win office space for 6 months with Middlesbrough Council and nebusiness

A message from Middlesbrough Council for If we can, you can members:

Do you have a bright idea for a new business? Or are you looking to take your business to the next level? Then the Build A Business competition could be just the helping hand you need.

Middlesbrough Council have teamed up with nebusiness to offer a 6 months rent free tenancy in one of its following Enterprise Centres:

· Multi Media Exchange

· Brentnall Centre

· Southlands Centre

· Beresford Building

· Broadcasting House

· Stockton Street Workshops

The Council operates a range of managed offices and workshop premises throughout Middlesbrough to encourage the formation of new businesses and help existing ones grow.

The aim of the Enterprise Centres is to provide easy in - easy out facilities at an inclusive rate that covers such things as joint services and buildings insurance. Office units are centrally heated, carpeted, fully decorated and have a manned reception.

If you are looking to get your business idea moving or think business premises would help you expand then this competition is right up your street.

For further information and to enter the Build a Business competition complete the online application at Enterprise Centres Competition

All applications will be judged on the following criteria:

· Quality of business idea

· Clear business mission and overview

· The effect winning the competition prize will have on the business

This competition is open to new and existing businesses. Current tenants cannot apply. All submissions will be judged during a two-week period, commencing November 22.

TYNESIDE BOOT CAMP TO CREATE ENTREPRENEURS…

Would-be Tyneside entrepreneurs are being asked to use their brain power rather than their physical prowess to benefit from a unique kind of boot camp.

The business boot camps have been created by Newcastle-based Enterprise Made Simple, which came up with the idea of running an intensive weekend where people with a potentially high growth company could benefit from expert advice and support.

The free sessions, which have been organised with the financial support of the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007 – 2013 and Newcastle City Council, will run over two weekends in November and competition for the limited places is expected to be fierce.

Andrea Clarke of EMS said the camps would offer a rare opportunity for business people to get a whole host of valuable advice and information over one weekend.

“People know all about boot camps but they usually associate them with physical activity,” said Andrea.

“This is much more about exercising the brain and giving them the opportunity to get advice and information, face challenges and take part in team building exercises.

The residential weekends will be held at the Calvert Trust’s outdoor activity centre at Keilder on November 19 and November 26, with places limited to 12 at each session.

The boot camps are aimed at start-up companies which will be VAT registered and employ staff and must be based in the Newcastle area.

“The camps are for people who have a desire to start their own business,” said Andrea.

“It could be someone who is facing redundancy from a public sector job or someone with ambitious plans for a business.”

Those who are successful in their application will spend two nights and three days at Keilder, working with experienced business advisors in a mix of classroom-based and team building activities.

All travel, accommodation and food will be included as part of the weekend and the hope is that these initial pilot projects will be rolled out to a wider area in the future.

“We believe this will be a really effective way for people to get the confidence and the help they need to move their business forward,” said Andrea.

John Musham, head of enterprise at Newcastle City Council, said: “New businesses, with the potential to grow are crucial to the future prosperity of Newcastle and I would encourage any-one setting up in business to take advantage of this one-off opportunity.”

Anyone wanting further information or to apply for a place at the residential weekends is asked to contact Enterprise Made Simple on 0800 988 7122.

Entrepreneurs' Forum Chairman Issues Rallying Cry

A rallying call has gone out to entrepreneurs across the North East to use their talent and innovation to lead the region strongly out of the recession.

Three high profile business leaders each offered inspiring messages of encouragement to the private sector saying entrepreneurs must step forward and show their true mettle.

There was also agreement for greater understanding of business needs at government level and for entrepreneurs to be allowed the freedom to act.

The calls came at the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s annual Chairman’s Dinner hosted at the BALTIC, Gateshead, by current chairman Tom Maxfield.

He called for “a seismic shift” in the way government related to business and promoted an entrepreneurial culture.

He said the Forum itself was having to readjust to the new economic climate where additional funding sources were disappearing.

Mr Maxfield added: “As an organisation founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs we are blessed with talent and experience that will enable us to devise a strategy to ensure the Forum continues to provide support, motivation and inspiration to entrepreneurs throughout the region. We are up for the challenge.”

Lord Bates of Langbaurgh gave a fascinating insight into the workings of government and the personality of the new Prime Minister.

“David Cameron is obsessed about doing the right thing and trying to govern in the national interest,” he explained.

Lord Bates, who also owns his own business Walton Bates Associates, highlighted the parallels between running a company and running the country and outlined the task faced by the government to balance the books.

He said it was taking a variety of measures, just as business would, to close the deficit, including encouraging growth, cutting overheads, controlling costs and being innovative in its use of technology and efficient practices.

“By showing they are serious about tackling the deficit the currency remains stable, interest rates remain low and you can start building the economy going forward,” he said.

He added that cuts in the public sector would not affect the North East as much as predicted because of continued demand on the welfare benefits administered in the region.

“The idea of 25 per cent being ripped out of the North East economy is not going to happen. But there will be a move from big government issuing dictates and large blank cheques. There is a change from top down control to something that’s more bottom up.”

He said the private sector would be encouraged by incentives and support from the new Regional Growth Fund, Enterprise Partnerships and the Green Investment Bank.

He concluded: “This region has placed way too much confidence in government and had way too little confidence it itself.

“It’s the region that produced Armstrong, Parsons, Barratt, Sir John Hall and the Metro Centre, Sage, Barbour, Vardy and Greggs. It’s a phenomenal and vibrant place to do business.

“The North East is more than capable of standing on its own two feet and competing with any region in the country – all that is required is greater self-belief.

“I have no doubt in this new environment entrepreneurship will be required to step to the fore. You deserve a coalition government on your side, not on your back and that is what you will get.”

Guest speaker Richard Harpin, a highly successful entrepreneur and the man behind HomeServe, gave a warts and all insight into the drive and commitment needed to build a business now worth £1.6bn and which made £100m profit before tax last year.

Richard, who grew up in Newcastle and started his first businesses on Tyneside, built experience at Procter & Gamble and Deloitte while trying to pinpoint “the big idea”.

It came while he was advising South Staffs Water on setting up a customer plumbing service. Success came in turning the concept into a consumer membership service linked to water and utility companies and promoted via direct mail.

Richard founded HomeServe in 1993. It now has 10.5 million policies providing a repair service for home emergencies.

Innovative developments, like covering water supply pipe replacement and selling a free policy with each call-out, have kept the company growing.

Major growth came with expansion into France, one of the hardest markets to crack, and now the United States, where the £10m acquisition of National Grid’s home services business grew HomeServe in the US by 50 per cent overnight.

He said: “It’s no longer about proving I can run a business. I still get up at 5am every day with more passion than ever. Because the business is bigger and we’ve got more great people, now I get out of bed thinking we can take over the world.

“I used to only think a couple of years ahead; it was about survival and if we could make a million. Now it’s about how we can help a real consumer need and be a global business. I feel we have only just started.”

Passionate about encouraging young people into business, this summer he led the introduction of the first entrepreneurs badge to the Scouts Association.

He said: “There is a big responsibility on us as business leaders to help with encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs especially here in the North East.”

CALM DIGITAL PREDICTS £350K TURNOVER AFTER MONTH-ON-MONTH GROWTH

Boutique web design and development agency Calm Digital has predicted a turnover of £350k for its second year of trading after a stunning period of month-on-month growth.

Calm Digital, which is based in the award-winning Boho One, in Middlesbrough, was established by a group of six shareholders in 2009 and has rapidly grown into one of the region’s leading web and creative agencies.

The company has recently won a number of contracts, including a project worth £60k to help Peak Partnerships, a Yorkshire-based healthcare improvement company, to create innovative and interactive e-learning online and mobile applications.

The talented delivery team - which has more than 68 years combined experience in the industry - is made up of finance director Phil Allick, project director Bianca Robinson, technical director Andy Murphy, web developer Daniel Askwith and graphic designer Danielle Bloom.

“Our rapid growth is a real testament to the hard work and determination of the whole team,” said Miss Robinson. “Together we collectively make decisions on all aspects of the business and everyone has creative input into every project.

“As shareholders we all have incredible motivation to make Calm Digital the North East’s leading creative agency within five years. At present we are delighted to be competing with the region’s largest companies for contracts and on some occasions beating them but we want to be regarded as the number one.”

Calm Digital offers a range of services, including branding, website design and development, digital marketing, web optimisation, social media, viral campaigns, design for marketing and creative campaigns.

Calm Digital’s latest product offering is their unique online advent calendar, which enables companies to engage with their customers direct in a fun and interactive way during the build up to Christmas.

The customisable advent calendar has entertaining games, prizes and discount offers behind each window and is distributed to clients’ databases and monitored on a daily basis.

The company is offering an early bird offer to buy the advent calendar online for £495 before October 1st and anticipates to generate approximately 5000 website hits for every 1000 contacts for each company that signs up.

Calm Digital’s extensive client list includes, Ultimate Homes & Finance, Durham City of Culture, Redcar Racing and Business and Enterprise North East.

The creative company – which has local, national and international clients - works with companies of all sizes and has also been instrumental in helping numerous Teesside start-up companies build the foundations of their companies.

Within the last month alone Calm Digital has helped four businesses – Rovin Energy, Success Feelosophy, Jan Secker Photography and Tindles Chartered Accountants - launch new innovative websites.

For further information about Calm Digital and the services they offer please contact 0845 058 0511 or alternatively visit www.calmdigital.com

Female Conversation Club is the talk of the town

Conversation clubs have been springing up all over New York and London and now Darlington and Tees Valley has it’s very own Conversation Club, courtesy of Darlington brand communications and experiential agency Lakey Wells and IWCYC member Linda Britton.

The group is aimed at go getting business women and will be meeting every third Tuesday every month. The Conversation Club’s next networking lunch is October 19th at Bannatynes Hotel, Southend Avenue, Darlington at 12.30-2.30 with a special introductory offer of just £15 which includes a two course lunch and a media training session as well as networking.

“Too often women in the south of the region lose half a day or more attending a business networking session in Newcastle or Durham. With the Conversation Club women can network over a good lunch and a glass of wine and still have the afternoon in the office ” said Linda Britton, Lakey Wells Strategic Director.

“We already have a significant number of attendees for the 19th including companies from all over Tees Valley and the wider County Durham region so it’s going to be a great session and not one to miss. We will also be unveiling our plans for the future which feature a lot of exciting opportunities for conversation club members such as coaching opportunities by celebrated trainers and TV and media opportunities.”

Lakey Wells will also be launching Conversation Club dinners and other networking activities which will be open to both men and women so if any companies would like to add themselves to their mailing list contact Linda at linda@lakeywells.co.uk or call Linda or Rachel on 01325 487 037 or 07724 858 485.

Supermarket Sweep For Trend Bible

A Newcastle firm has bagged all of the ‘big four’ supermarket chains following its latest win to provide its trend forecasting services to ASDA Home and Leisure.

In the last three years, consumer forecasting experts Trend Bible has beaten off national rivals to work with the UK’s largest home and leisure departments including Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, predicting home furnishing trends.

As well as working with global brands and retailers across several markets, forecasting guru and founder of Trend Bible Joanna Feeley believes that despite challenging trading and economic conditions, home and leisure departments have proven profitable for supermarkets who are carving out a bigger share in the homewares market.

The If we can, you can Face of Entrepreneurship for the Evening Chronicle Ms Feeley said: “Since the recession people are staying in more and refreshing the look of their homes with up to date and affordable furnishings instead of moving, so the big supermarkets are seeing a steady growth of homeware items.

“Our trend consultancy service begins with looking at our clients brand and evaluating their shoppers’ behaviour – how they might feel, think and shop in the future. We research socio-economic conditions, from which we tailor a bespoke trend forecast for that retailer to ensure sales growth.”

Sainsbury’s has recently reported that its non-food offer is growing at three times the rate of food with a pre-tax operating profit of £19m for the year to March 20, 2010, and ASDA has unveiled its five year strategy to become the market leader in general merchandise.

Story courtesy of www.bdaily.info

Chemical firm looks to double sales

A North East chemical firm expects to double sales over the next three years and increase turnover from £5m to £10m.

Exwold Technology, which operates from three sites in Hartlepool and Billingham has secured a £250,000 investment from UK Steel Enterprise, the Corus-subsidiary that supports businesses in steel areas to support its plans.

The good news for Teesside comes on the heels of a recent gloomy survey that declared parts of the area were the “least resilient” in the UK to economic shocks.

Exwold is investing in new roll compaction technology and a new stock control system and hopes to quadruple its profitability.

“We doubled our profits through 2009 which was a tough year economically and are still growing,” said founder James Robson.

“We now have a high level of expertise in a niche speciality market with 70% of our revenues generated abroad.

“We believe that SMEs like Exwold are key to the North East’s future as a manufacturing base.”

Set up in 1992, Exwold began processing chemicals into granular form for the agricultural sector.

It has since moved into other sectors including flame retardants, surface coatings, biocides and metal treatments.

The organisation, which currently has a workforce of 60, merged with a London-based company in 2006, extending its range of processing methods and it now processes more than 100 chemical products.

Story courtesy of www.bdaily.info

Local Agency Achieves Gang Master Status

Local Recruitment Agency “Recruitment Now” is celebrating having been awarded their Gang Master Licence in August 2010.

The Gang masters Licensing Authority (GLA) regulates those who supply labour or use workers to provide services in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, shellfish gathering and food processing and packaging.

In order to achieve the gang master status the agency has been taken through a thorough and stringent audit and assessment process to ensure its suitability to provide such staff.

Managing Director Sarah Nixon says. “Recruitment Now has been established for 7 years, 4 of which we have supplied temporary staff services across a number of disciplines. I had always had my eye on trying to get the gang master license and decided that 2010 was the year to go for it. Our Industrial and Catering Temps Divisions have been so successful that it seems like the natural progression to move into food production and processing, it is a legal requirement that the high quality and standards required for us to pass the assessment are maintained so our clients can rest assured that our services levels will be consistently high. We are delighted to have become a gang master – it’s a big achievement for us!”

Rural Face of Entrepreneurship announced

The winner of the ‘If we can, you can’ Rural Challenge 2010, the North East regional entrepreneurial campaign, is announced today.

Ian Nelson from Willington, County Durham who founded T Caddy, manufacturers of specialist golf accessories, has been named as this year’s winner of the ‘If we can, you can’ Rural Challenge and claimed the title of the ‘face of North East entrepreneurship’ 2011. He will take home a unique prize package which includes a ‘money can’t buy’ package of mentoring and business services worth up to £5000.

Ian and fellow finalists Justin Souter, James Brown, Maddy Stuckey, Jimmy Bell and James Cookson all attended a ‘Pick Our Brains Opportunity’ panel where they pitched their business ideas to a high-calibre entrepreneurial panel.

This is the first year that the ‘If we can, you can’ Challenge has incorporated a category for Rural Entrepreneurship; something that Stephen Green from the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, which runs the campaign, says has been a valuable activity.

“It’s very important to recognise the achievements of entrepreneurs and their success – we’ve discovered some fantastic people running great businesses in the North East’s rural landscape and the ‘If we can, you can’ Rural Challenge allows us to champion them, support them in developing their ambition and help them to grow their businesses.”

The Rural Challenge is supported by the Country Land and Business Association, which has been working with the campaign to spread the word about the entrepreneurial talent in the North East. Director of the CLA Angus Collingwood-Cameron said:

“The Rural Challenge has been fantastic and it is really invigorating to see such a high calibre of entrants who operate such different businesses. Their passion and drive to succeed, particularly in such difficult financial times is inspiring. This only reinforces the view that our rural economy is full of enterprising people.”

Six shortlisted finalists of the Rural Challenge were invited to take part in a unique judging panel – The ‘Pick Our Brains Opportunity’. The finalists were asked to pitch their businesses to five well-established entrepreneurs who, as well as choosing the overall winner, offered their advice and guidance to the finalists based on their years’ of entrepreneurial experience.

The panel of judges included global construction manufacturer, Miller International founder Keith Miller; Tony Trapp, Chairman of leading offshore engineering company, IHC Engineering Business, Ali McLean from specialist adventure tour operator, Activities Abroad and Chief Executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Carole Beverley.

Ian Nelson, of T Caddy said: “I am thrilled to have been chosen as the winner of the ‘If we can, you can’ Rural Challenge. I know I had stiff competition from all the other finalists and I hear that it was a pretty close call between us.

“I am really looking forward to taking advantage of the business mentoring services that forms part of my prize and I am so proud to represent the North East as a face of entrepreneurship.”

Runners up Maddy Stuckey, founder of Northumberland based natural skin, hair and body care producer Natural Empathy and James Brown of land agency JamesRobsonBrown Ltd from Hexham were named as ‘Ambassadors for Rural Entrepreneurship’ and will join winner Ian at the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s ‘Building Business for Growth’ conference on the 4th November.

Maddy Stuckey, from Natural Empathy said: “I am so happy to have been named as an Ambassador for the ‘If we can, you can’ Rural Challenge. I think it is so important to support entrepreneurial talent in the North East and rural Northumberland as we have a wealth of great businesses that we need to shout about.”

James Brown from JamesRobsonBrown Ltd said: “The panel was very positive, inspiring, and confidence giving. It made me feel that I am going on the right track and I’m now even more motivated and raring to grow my business.”

The other finalists who attended the ‘Pick Our Brains Opportunity’ panel last week all gained invaluable advice from the panellists for their businesses.

Carole Beverley of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum said: “Congratulations to Ian for winning this years’ ‘If we can, you can’ Rural Challenge and to Maddy and James for being named as an ‘Ambassadors of Rural Entrepreneurship.’ Well done also to the other three finalists who were chosen to attend the panel.”

All of this year’s entrants have shared their enterprising story and joined the ever growing online community of like minded entrepreneurs at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk, which now has over 860 members and dedicated 120 mentors. The community encourages people to share their stories, offering budding and aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to tap into a wealth of experience of people who have ‘been there and done it’ by exchanging experiences and creating connections.

Walk This Way...Exclusive Footwear Right up your Street

Exclusive Footwear owner Frances Chalmers is settling into her new premises on Newcastle City Centre’s Shakespeare Street following her recent acquisition of Breeze Shoes.

Newcastle born Frances is delighted to be bringing her exclusive range of designer footwear, much of which isn’t available anywhere else in the region, to her home town.

Speaking of the move, Frances said,

"Our plan for Exclusive Footwear was always to open five stores in addition to our e-commerce website. Shakespeare Street is our third store in five years, and it just so happens that we have the great fortune of being able to blend our business with one of the most historic and well respected footwear retailers in the UK - Breeze.

“The footwear we’re bringing to Newcastle is very hard to find elsewhere, and we’re establishing Exclusive Footwear as the place to come for exceptional high level service and quality. If there’s a shoe you want and can’t find, we’ll make it our mission to bring it into the store.

“We’re the only stockist in the region for the Love from Australia (LFA) Premium Collection and we’re always on the lookout for new and exclusive brands – soon we’ll be taking delivery of the American cult collection Chinese Laundry and Stuart Weitzman - and of course we’re stocking old favourites such as the FitFlop and Hunter wellies, and for the guys – Oliver Sweeney, Jeffrey West and Timberland.

The company has also won a number of awards, including a finalist's place in this Drapers Footwear Awards - Independent E-Retailer - in 2007 and 2008, Fashion Entrepreneur of the North in the Grazia O2 X awards for 2008 and a further finalist's place this year at the Drapers E-retailer of the Year awards.

Frances and her team have given the former Breeze store a facelift and plans are afoot to fully rebrand into Exclusive Footwear – Newcastle.