SHOWREEL
TESTIMONIALS
Susan Benjamin:
This is an excellent programme for startups who face so many challenges and limited budgets
Matt Robinson:
Excellent Day, Interesting Anecdotes, Energetic Delivery
John Hynes:
It’s nice to hear from a man who has done the walk and is able to talk the talk
Clare Brynley-Jones:
Great day – great setting, really interesting and reassuring
Ross Wallin, Pitcher and Piano:
Great Venue, charismatic presenter and good time slots
Phillip Gibbs, Synergy Linx Ltd:
Doug Richard is great, open and has a great sense of humour. Phil Wilkinson was a very valuable addition
Vanessa Knight, 100 Percent Art:
Brilliant, loved the interactive approach with audience to give real on-the-spot examples
Joanna Anthony:
A positive day which I can highly recommend to others
Regional Sponsors
Yorkshire Forward
Yorkshire Forward is the regional development agency for the Yorkshire & Humber region. There are 9 such agencies in England, and each is tasked with improving the economy in its own particular region. We’re funded by central government (ie by taxpayers) and we also receive funding from the EU.
Essentially, our goal is to make Yorkshire & Humber a better place to live, work and invest, and to ensure that our region is able to compete on the domestic and global stage.
Our role is to boost the economy of our region, and by doing that our vision is to help businesses grow and prosper; to support people in reaching their potential; and to enhance the places which make up our region.
Our aims for Yorkshire & Humber include supporting people, helping businesses and improving places. It means taking a long-term approach to assuring business success and a high quality of life, whilst protecting our environment.
Hull Youth Enterprise Partnership
The Hull Youth Enterprise Partnership is a well established public/private community partnership set up to influence major partners in supporting Hull’s enterprising young people. It is committed to the shared vision of growing the City’s economy for the benefit of our young people and by working in partnership to create and facilitate opportunities to widen the entrepreneurial spirit of Hull.
Its primary purpose is to support and encourage young people aged up to and including 19 years of age to become more enterprising and to contribute to the City’s target of creating 1,200 new businesses, and will assist young people to overcome economic and social barriers that deny them the opportunity of economic inclusion, progression and choice.
The Graduate Entrepreneurship Project
Graduate Entrepreneurship Project, a Yorkshire and Humber-wide initiative to promote and support student and graduate entrepreneurship. GE is a collaboration of the region’s 11 universities and university colleges, led by the University of Huddersfield.
www.graduateentrepreneurship.co.uk
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) & The Transformation Fund
Through the Transformation Fund grants, partnerships of public, private and third sector organisations in England are creating projects to:
- Encourage more and different people into informal learning, particularly people from disadvantaged groups;
- Open up access to learning in new places, in new ways and at more flexible times;
- Support people to set up self-organised groups and learning clubs;
- Widen choice, by developing and sharing innovative content;
- Build partnerships and strengthen the capacity of informal adult learning organisations;
- Improve connections and progression between different kinds of learning; and
- Make better use of broadcasting and technology to stimulate and support learning.
The Transformation Fund adds to the £210 million which the Government has already ring-fenced to support informal adult learning. The Government also invests £360 million each year in museums and galleries, £10 million in UK online centres, libraries and other community venues and £21.5 million in union learning.
Newcastle Science City
Newcastle was designated as a Science City in 2005 in recognition of the world-class research being undertaken by its universities and the potential of its science industry base. Being a Science City is all about capitalising on science expertise and encouraging the creation of new innovation, ideas and businesses. The aims of Newcastle Science City are to:
• Position Newcastle as a world-leader focussing on four main science themes: Energy & the Environment, Ageing & Health, Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine and Molecular Engineering.
• Increase connectivity across the city enabling innovation and ideas to thrive and grow.
• To maximise science investment into the city and support the development of infrastructure that enables this to happen.
• To support the creation of an innovation climate across the city, which enables challenge-led and technology inspired innovation to prosper.
• To work with education specialists to improve study of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, ensuring the city has the skills base needed to support Newcastle as a Science City both now and in the future.
And Newcastle Science Company, the organisation charged with taking forward the Science City vision, has plans in place to initiate its own scientific projects as well as working to support those already well under way. We are bringing together the very best scientific minds in this region to turn our vision into reality.
Ward Hadaway
When you’re starting out in business, it’s always reassuring to have some heavyweight backing behind you.
- Ward Hadaway is one of the largest law firms in the North of England with a reputation for quality, innovation and a firmly practical approach to meeting our clients’ needs.
- We operate from offices in Newcastle and Leeds and have a substantial client base of regional, national and international clients from the private and public sectors.
- We pride ourselves on a real working knowledge of the commercial world and have extensive experience of working with companies ranging from start-up enterprises, owner-managed businesses and SMEs to high-profile plcs.
- As a full service law firm, we can offer expert advice on all the many challenges and opportunities faced by new and growing businesses.
- From employment and property issues to raising finance and making acquisitions, we can help at every stage, offering practical, no-nonsense advice without the legal jargon.
- Using our extensive experience, we can help you to steer a path through the common pitfalls and problems businesses encounter as they begin life.
- For more information on how we can help you really get things started, head for our website at:
North East Access to Finance
North East Access to Finance; has been set up as part of the JEREMIE initiative. It exists to monitor access to finance in the region, as well as initiate training and mentoring programmes for SME’s. It is the parent company of North East Finance Ltd, which has been set up to manage the 125 million pound JEREMIE programme. The company intends to create three experimental funds within the next three years to complement the existing capability, and hopes to draw in investment from within as well as from outside the region. One of its main tasks will be to energise and build on Business Angel capacity in the region. It has been tasked with responsibility for stakeholder engagement, and most important of all has been charged with safeguarding and investing the legacy monies from all existing fund management activities, and all future funds. This should enable the JEREMIE programme to be re-created every five years as funds become available for re-investment.
The chairman of the company board is Hugh Morgan Williams, former chairman of the North East Regional Investment Fund and is being ably assisted by Geoff Hodgson current chairman of the Tourism board, Graham Thrower formerly of CitiGroup and a One North East board member and Director of the North East based music business alt.vinyl, and Mark Chidley, a senior banking partner from the law firm DLA Piper in Leeds.