Hartlepool small business initiative a success
AN INITIATIVE to breathe new life into small businesses in Hartlepool has been such a success that councils throughout the country are following suit.
Hartlepool Borough Council’s Enterprise Team took over 20 vacant stalls at the town’s Market Hall in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre six months ago.
Six months later 16 new stall sellers are doing so well they have signed up to stay beyond the trial period. When word got out, the council was inundated with calls to discover how they did it.
Among those enquiring, Durham Councy Enterprise Agency won £100,000 from One North East’s Enterprise Arcade Fund to start a similar project at Bishop Auckland’s InShops Centre.
Andrea Miles, Hartlepool Enterprise Centre manager, said: “We went into this initiative with two aims: to help new businesses test out their ideas, and to drive more shoppers into the Market Hall to support the new and existing stallholders. Footfall has been up by more than 10%, which is fantastic in the current economic climate and we have all of these new businesses who may not have considered self- employment without this initiative.”
In Bishop Auckland, the copycat joint venture between County Durham Enterprise Agencies and Inshops Centres has taken over 10 of 15 vacant units in Newgate Street.
Project manager Sue Parkinson said: “Some people have been thinking about starting their own businesses but didn’t know how to go about it. This way they get to test trade their ideas with an easy-in easy-out approach which does not tie them to long leases and means they do not have to buy masses of stock.”
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