Guru backing for start-ups
TEES business gurus have pledged their support for a regional campaign to boost the number of business-start-ups and entrepreneurial activity in the North-east.
Established entrepreneurs. including multi-millionaire retail magnate, Steven Bell, and Alastair Waite of Middlesbrough-based Onyx Group are backing 'If We Can, You Can', which aims to create a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who become role models and mentors for others.
The initiative, which is being backed by the Gazette, is a collaboration between funding body One NorthEast and the Entrepreneur's Forum.
Established gurus will mentor budding Richard Bransons and Anita Roddicks to help them get their business off the ground.
The campaign offers the chance for two Gazette readers to enter the running for a bespoke business support package worth £2,000, a monthly face-to-face clinic for six months with the region’s leading businessmen and women, and an iPhone.
Winners and finalists will enjoy a sponsored place at the Entrepreneurs Forum annual conference in May, worth £250 each.
The North-east has one of the lowest rates in the UK for enterprise activity and One NorthEast has set a target of creating as many as 22,000 new VAT registered businesses by 2016.
Satish Shewhorak, of Middlesbrough graphics and animation firm Moshine has volunteered to be a mentor for the scheme and believes it could be used to encourage young, skilled people to stay in the region.
He said: “The North-east has enough problems in retaining talent, let alone trying to get people to start their own business, yet the support network we have here is second to none.
“After three or four years at university, people are saddled with debts and many don't have the responsibility of a family. It's a perfect time to start a business.”
Another mentor, Colin Pearce, managing director of Colt Systems in Stockton, said the scheme could lead to the creation of business 'clusters' that could act as wealth generators for the region.
He said: “A cluster approach could lead to groups of like-minded businesses which feed off each other, generating extra revenues, innovation and economic growth.”
To kick-start the campaign, established entrepreneurs are being invited to tell their success stories at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk.
Anybody thinking of launching a business could become the “face of entrepreneurship 2009” by submitting details of their big idea at the same address.
Alternatively, entry forms can be collected from the Evening Gazette offices in Borough Road, Middlesbrough. Closing date is May 5.
