Encouraging business

Mar 19 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

WOULD-BE BUSINESS leaders are climbing on board our campaign to encourage more entrepreneurs in Teesside.

Organised by the Entrepreneurs Forum on behalf of One NorthEast, the If We Can You Can campaign is backed by established trailblazers, including Teesside’s multi-millionaire retail magnate, Steven Bell, and Alastair Waite of Middlesbrough-based Onyx Group.

As part of the campaign to build a network of mentors and small businesses offering mutual support, there is the chance to win more than £2,000 in start-up assistance through the Gazette.

Just by submitting their business ideas, two Gazette readers will enter the running for a prize package including exclusive access to mentoring from the region’s leading businessmen and women, and an iPhone.

Finalists will also enjoy a sponsored place at the Entrepreneurs Forum annual conference in May, worth £250.

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.

Anybody thinking of launching a business could become the “face of entrepreneurship 2009” by submitting details of their big idea at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk. To kick-start the campaign, established entrepreneurs are being invited to tell their success stories at the same address.

Entry forms can also be collected from the Evening Gazette offices in Borough Road, Middlesbrough. Closing date is May 5.