DRAGON'S Den star Deborah Meaden has made a rallying call to businesses as the November 14 deadline nears for entries to the Gazette's Local Business Accelerators initiative.
She said: “Local Business Accelerators is the perfect opportunity to drive your business to success. With less than two weeks before entries close I’m calling on businesses in Teesside to get involved.
“I’ve got a simple message for them – don’t miss this great opportunity. Free advertising in the Gazette and invaluable mentoring advice to kick start your business is not to be thrown away.
“ So if you’re a business that’s between one and three years old, with a great idea that wants to succeed, enter to be in with a chance of building a better future for both your business and the local community.”
Nearly 500 local publications are joining forces to promote the strength and value of local newspapers for those businesses and local communities.
We will be searching for the nation’s most promising young businesses and help them accelerate their success with top professional advice from local business mentors plus a substantial allocation of free advertising space.
One lucky business picked from the hundreds of regional winners will also get individual mentoring sessions from Deborah Meaden.
The scheme has already attracted high-profile support.
CBI director general John Cridland said it was “an innovative scheme to help promote much needed growth in our local communities.
“Small and medium sized businesses across the country have the potential to grow and create many new jobs and, by joining forces in this way, local newspapers can help provide valuable practical support,” he told the Gazette.
And NECC chief executive James Ramsbotham said: “Taking that seed of inspiration and developing it into a thriving business is one of the hardest, but most satisfying, things anyone can do, and anything that can help turn that business into a success is welcomed wholeheartedly.”