Think Enterprise
Vol. 9
Publication | June Edition
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A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP IOEE AND TONI&GUY IOEE SPOTLIGHT ON...
PAURIC MCGOWAN
UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER ACADEMIC
A ‘LOCALLY
ENTERPRISING RAILWAY’?
CROSSCOUNTRY
MAGAZINE June Edition Vol. 9
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SARAH TROUTEN, IOEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Welcome to our ninth edition of Think Enterprise and our very first Summer publication. This month we’ve had some fantastic news that two of our fellows have received recognition in the Queens birthday honours. The first John Timpson, an IOEE Honorary Fellow was given a Knighthood for his services to business and fostering. The second is Jackie Jenks, an IOEE Fellow and CEO of IOEE Academy, Leap Frog Mountain was appointed as an Officer of the British Order for her services to training and people. I would like to send my warmest congratulations to both our members. We welcome new IOEE Academy MENTA this month, you can find out more about their great work by reading our interview with MENTA CEO, Alex Till. We’ve shone the spotlight on a number of our members this month including Viv Bellamy, a studying member undertaking a programme at one of our Academies CCBED and also Matthew Rogers-Draycott, an Academic Fellow at Worcester University, IOEE Centre of Excellence. They make very different but both fascinating reads about their experiences and enterprise journey. I’m delighted to welcome back one of our favourite guest bloggers Claire Talbot-Jones who this month has shared thoughts on how small businesses can better support charities. Building on our strategic partnership with ISBE this month we have spoken to Pauric McGowan, ISBE President and Senior Lecturer at Ulster University about both his roles and how we came to be part of the entrepreneurial world - a super read. We also feature this month several events we’ve held or been invited to speak at including the Cross Country Enterprising Rail Event. We were delighted to be able to contribute to this event and future work to create stronger more enterprising community rail partnerships across the UK. Finally I am delighted to have had so many responses to our business support survey, the survey is still open and so I urge you if you haven’t already done so to go online and give your thoughts on how better you could support businesses or be supported as a business. So that’s it! For those of you with very well earned holidays coming up – enjoy and for the rest of us, lets hope for some more of the lovely sunshine!
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Content 10 IOEE Academy Status for Suffolk Enterprise Organisation
12 A ‘locally enterprising railway’?
14 Knighthood for IOEE Honorary Fellow John Timpson
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15 SMEEZ
16
IOEE and TONI&GUY A Perfect Partnership
17 IOEE Ambassador is Awarded OBE for Services to Training and People Development
18 Spotlight On... Enterprising Learner Viv Bellamy
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20 Grand Idea business competition celebrates student enterprise
22 Enterprisingly Me x
24 Spotlight On ... Tim Rivett
26 Spotlight On ... Pauric McGowan
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29 National Survey of Business and Enterprise Support
30 “Losing the stereotype of ‘The Entrepreneur’ will inspire more people to work for themselves.”
32 What have I got to give?
34 North-East talent blossoms into successful artist
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37 Interested in finding out how mentoring could help your business?
38 One year on, Dance Studio Leeds steps up its success
40 Young IOEE mentor is wise beyond his years
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CAMPUS
NOW LAUNCHED . . .
Learn anytime, anywhere with our Social Learning Platform! In January we launched our new IOEE Campus in support of all of our members. Enjoy our online enterprise courses, wherever you are and whenever you want. Learning content is available on mobile, tablet or desktop and we’re publishing more content all the time! Enterprise Answers, Groups, e-Learning, Business Plan Builder, Mentoring and Factsheets will all be available through our new online campus. We look forward to seeing you there!
Access now at
http://campus.ioee.uk
IOEE Academy Status for Suffolk enterprise organisation Alex Till is the CEO of MENTA; an organisation that delivers services to new, emerging and growing businesses in Suffolk. This month we spoke to Alex to find out more about the support and services that MENTA offers, the advice he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs, and what it means to MENTA to have recently secured its IOEE Academy status.
Alex Till, CEO of MENTA. Photograph by Andy Abbott.
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Alex has had a rich and varied career in the field of enterprise, having lived and travelled extensively in the UK and Europe as he’s built on his wealth of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. He developed a social enterprise for injured jockeys for the French Racing School in Chantilly, developed business techniques and an efficiencies system for a textile industry in Milan, and supported a range of retail and service organisations in the UK. Originally from Leicester, Alex moved to Suffolk in 1996, where he focused on working with SMEs, joining MENTA as its CEO in 2011. Alex says: “This is where my passion primarily lies; being able to help businesses grow. Sometimes people just need advice, but we offer a broad range of services, including business skills masterclasses, networking events, seminars, and one on one bespoke business training. Our cost effective, managed work spaces, and virtual offices are popular too.” First launching in 1984, MENTA has always had a clear mission: to help people start and grow their businesses to ensure the continued thriving prosperity of Suffolk and the Eastern Region. MENTA is a not-for-profit organisation, and although most services are chargeable they are very affordable. Alex says: “We’re a not-for-profit organisation not a membership organisation. People can pick and mix the business services and resources they need to grow their company. MENTA has clients who started their enterprise in 1990 and still contact us if they need some advice or support from a non-biased organisation, and we’re able to give them that.” In addition to delivering business advice, training courses and a personality profiling service the annual MENTA Trade Fair, a B2B exhibition, is in its 9th year and the organisation provides a personality profiling service: “Our trade fair attracts more than 100 trade stands from a really broad range of different companies and industries. About 600 people come through the doors, it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the success of businesses based in Suffolk and what a great place the county is to live and work.”
“We also host monthly networking sessions called Coffee Means Business. They’re relaxed and run mid-morning, so people can just come along with their business cards and grab a coffee and chat to other people from local businesses.” MENTA also offers more targeted advice to businesses that have passed the initial start-up stage, but need the support and expertise to grow further: “We work closely with the Suffolk Institute of Directors to deliver a programme called Expert Connections, that’s centred around supporting businesses that are over three years old - they’ve already started to grow and develop, and we put them in touch with directors that can offer them specific knowledge on how to take them to the next level.” Passionate about what he does, Alex says that he would advise other aspiring entrepreneurs to channel their passion too: “If I had to give a piece of advice, it would be to really grab the excitement you got when you started up and really believe in your passion, and use these to drive forward with your business.” MENTA has gained much recognition for its work, including being awarded the National Enterprise Network’s Enterprise Agency of the Year, as well as the Future of Business Support award. In May of this year, Alex was among the winners of the Institute of Director’s 2017 Director of the Year for the East of England. In addition, MENTA has also recently secured its status as an IOEE Academy, and Alex says what this means to him and the organisation: “Our new IOEE status is absolutely fantastic, it gives us that stamp of credibility so that people can recognise the level of quality in what we deliver, and see that opportunity is there for them through MENTA. It’s also just the beginning of a relationship with the IOEE, and this accreditation enables us to start really looking at how we can work together with an affiliated enterprise organisation.”
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A ‘locally enterprising railway’? WRITTEN BY RICHARD GIBSON HEAD OF COMMUNICATION, CROSSCOUNTRY
Love them or hate them, either for speed, comfort or just not being stuck in a traffic jam, we have probably all used the railways at some point. And with more people using them every year, the level of investment being made in Britain’s railways is staggering – delivering new railway lines, new carriages, refurbished stations and more staff. However, all this investment has to be paid for and with customers wanting cheaper travel this can’t just be funded through ticket sales. Many people now see Britain’s privatised railway as run by big transport companies or overseas train operators. However, if you take a closer look you’ll see that many stations and routes act very much like SMEs – working to grow their local market by encouraging people to try their products and marketing their benefits over the competition. While this can be successful at medium and large stations, many of Britain’s 2,500 stations are small and often unstaffed, making it hard to promote them in their communities and to encourage new passengers. Since the mid-90s many people have been working with their local train companies to help make the stations a real part of their community, either through cleaning and decorating the station to make it more welcoming, through to opening small shops or tourist information offices to make use of empty office space. This movement quickly became known as ‘Community Rail’ and for over a decade has been overseen by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP). For the rail industry these groups provide extra hands to help keep their stations looking good, and a chance to tap into external investment for their work and services that generates more passengers. However, many of these are small groups, usually comprising volunteers and often trying to make a real difference to their community with little resource. ACoRP, supported by the Government’s Department for Transport, already does much to help these groups, and each are part-funded by their local train company and often their local Councils. However, funding can also be equated as subsidy, and in these times of austerity and declining budgets, it is more important than ever for such groups to work to develop their own funding streams and even seek to become self-sustaining.
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CrossCountry, arguably Britain’s most expansive train operator with routes from Scotland to Cornwall and Wales to East Anglia, is unique in the railway as it manages no train stations. So unlike other train operators it has no buildings or facilities with which to work with Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs) and is therefore free to take a more strategic and facilitating role in their support. With this in mind, they decided to use the opportunity of their first annual conference to bring together representatives from the eighteen CRPs they connect to as well as others seeking to use rail to benefit their localities, for a workshop in York on 2 June. The main focus for this was a discussion on developing a ‘locally enterprising railway’ toolkit that ACoRP and it members could use to develop new approaches, designed to generate revenue for them to reinvest and grow – essentially seeking to transform groups of volunteers into a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. To aid discussion on the day and give the attendees food for thought, CrossCountry invited Leigh Sear from SFEDI and Jan Garill from the Two Ridings Community Foundation to give presentations on examples of community businesses and how they can work. These were followed by breakout groups looking at how to set up and operate small locally-focused businesses in a railway environment, sharing examples of existing activities and looking at whether these could work in other locations. Of particular focus was identifying the challenges and pitfalls of setting up a business, including crucially how to move from being a volunteer to thinking commercially and how to identify markets and customer demand. The event ended with a presentation from Drew Haley, General Manager of the Settle & Carlisle Railway Development Company, on their journey from near closure of the line under British Rail to a thriving community and tourism focused business. Speaking afterwards, CrossCountry’s Business Community Manager Chris Leech said: “Everyone in the workshops had something to add; either thoughts on retailing opportunities, examples of things they were already involved in or looking at and even suggestions on what local communities may benefit from as well as the partnerships. Our goal
Leigh Sear, SFEDI Solutions’ CEO, delivering his presentation at the CrossCountry workshop.
now is to ensure this army of passionate people have the capability and means to become financially sustainable, so later this year, alongside our colleagues in SFEDI and the Community Foundation, we’ll be launching our toolkit of social enterprise examples and best-practice opportunities, many of which have come from today. These should offer a chance to explore options, access new markets and develop funding and revenue for the CRPs. In turn these will be creating resilient and vibrant communities which is good for society and Britain’s railways”. SFEDI Solutions’ CEO, Leigh Sear, said: “Given the changes in the sector, and the external business environment, it is both an interesting and uncertain time for community rail partnerships and station adoption groups. Trends related to socio-cultural diversity, changing lifestyles and the use of technology provide opportunities to develop services and offerings which will add value to different groups within the local community. At the same time, there are a set of challenges related to accessing funding and resources, as well as being able to articulate a clear value proposition to others, in order to put ideas into action. The recent CrossCountry Locally Enterprising Railways workshop provided an opportunity to unpack these opportunities and challenges, exchange experiences and reflect on enterprising responses from social enterprises outside of the rail industry. These
discussions identified the value of being able to access guidance and practical resources in developing a social enterprise, as well as creating space and developing the skills to balance working ‘on’ and ‘in’ the enterprise. This investment, combined with the passion and enthusiasm of people working in the CRPs and SAGs, will assist in translating ideas into action, developing new relationships and networks and adding value to the socio-economic development of local communities.” IOEE’s CEO, Sarah Trouten, said: “As the UK Professional Body for Enterprise we are committed to raising the enterprising skills of all across the UK. And so I was delighted to be invited by Cross Country to contribute to the Cross Country Enterprising Rail event held in York enabling us to share our experiences and knowledge of the development of enterprising skills within social enterprises through both delivery of qualifications and projects. I am very much looking forward to working closely with Cross Country and it’s partners in the coming months on this innovative piece of work which when complete will have a positive impact on not only the CRP’s but also social enterprises across the UK.” To find out more about CrossCountry please visit: www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk
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Knighthood for IOEE Honorary Fellow John Timpson The IOEE is delighted to offer its most sincere congratulations to IOEE Honorary Fellow John Timpson, who has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. John is the chairman of the cobbler and key repair company that bears his Timpson family name, though his knighthood is also in recognition for his fostering as well as his services to business, as John and his late wife, Alex, fostered over 90 children together over 31 years. Timpson was originally set up by John’s great grandfather and now has over 1,900 branches nationwide, remaining a private family-run business, and John has gained a reputation as being a paternalistic employer; staff get their birthdays off and bonuses for exceeding targets. John said: “It is blindingly obvious that if you treat people well, they will do a good job.” In 2014 John attended the IOEE’s Celebrating Enterprise Awards event, which we hold annually at the House of Lords, where he was awarded the IOEE Lifetime Achievement Award
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and an IOEE Honorary Fellowship. IOEE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Trouten, said: “We are absolutely delighted that our Honorary Fellow, John Timpson, has been recognised for his hard work, integrity, and his contribution to business services and fostering. His dedication to creating a strong business model that prioritises employee benefits and actively promotes and provides unique employment opportunities to individuals who in usual circumstances may struggle to find employment is an inspiration. It is a great pleasure to congratulate John on the outstanding achievement of his knighthood. It is truly deserved, and we are exceptionally proud to say that he is an Honorary Fellow of the IOEE.” John said, “I receive this honour with great pride and a certain amount of sadness. I was very much the junior partner on the fostering front, and my late wife Alex also had a fundamental influence on all that I’ve done in business, so I’m bound to regret that she’s not alongside me to be properly recognised as Lady Alex.”
SMEEZ
TM
The search is on for
Guest Writers and Enterprise Experts! Are you an IOEE Fellow? Do you have exceptional writing and/or design skills? Are you interested in sharing your expertise with a large audience of entrepreneurs, educators, and small business owners? If so, click here to find out more about IOEE’s Think Enterprise blogging opportunities!
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TOGETHER, IOEE AND TONI&GUY have developed a visionary programme, bringing together the very best of enterprise education expertise and the UK’s leading creative brand. Designed specifically to appeal to those studying fashion, hairdressing, beauty and design courses, this programme hones entrepreneurial capacity and encourages an enterprising outlook.
For more information about either delivering or undertaking Creating Enterprise, click here to go to toniandguy.ioee.uk
AND A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP
IOEE Ambassador is Awarded OBE for Services to Training and People Development
Jackie Jenks is an IOEE Ambassador and the CEO of Leapfrog Mountain; a mentoring and enterprise academy that supports mentors, business leaders and entrepreneurs. Leapfrog Mountain secured its status as an IOEE Academy in May 2016, and just over a year later Jackie has been awarded an OBE for her services to training and people development. We chatted to Jackie about her journey so far and what this outstanding achievement means to her. Jackie had a 28-year corporate career in banking and training before taking the ‘leap’ into setting up her own company, Leapfrog Mountain. Jackie says: “I’m originally from a family business background and this inspired me from an early age, so I think I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spark. Setting up Leapfrog Mountain was my time to fully take that spark and run with it, and I find it such a privilege to be working in mentoring and training; knowing that I am making a difference is what really motivates me.” One of Leapfrog Mountain’s charity partners is the School of Hard Knocks (SOHK), supporting the creation of their mentoring programme and being one of their ambassadors. It’s a fantastic example of how dedicated Jackie and Leapfrog Mountain are to focusing on people, collaboration, and the importance of community support: “The traditional way of looking at business success is to look at its ROI (Return on Investment), but you can’t just look at the numbers. Looking at what people are achieving has a much bigger impact on the business. By investing in training, mentoring and developing people, you’ll get a higher return on your investment, and one that is much more powerful and impactful than if you just measure results according to the finances alone.” The majority of Jackie’s work is centred around the organisation and running of effective mentoring programmes and training business and mentor leaders, with a small amount of private work where she
works one-to-one with some of her key clients. Jackie says: “Work is incredibly varied, with clients all over the UK and overseas. I’m incredibly lucky in that I don’t have what looks like a ‘normal’ day, and that I get to work with such a diverse range of people. That’s what Leapfrog Mountain is all about - working with people from different backgrounds, with different skillsets and different experiences, and bringing those people together. It makes so much of a practical difference - otherwise you’re just having the same thoughts in the same way, and going round and round in circles. Collaboration is absolutely key to success.” When setting up Leapfrog Mountain, Jackie could have opted to go with a more traditional business-like name, but she wanted something that was more colourful, characterful and reflective of the process that mentors and mentees alike were experiencing: “There was a lot of brainstorming to come up with the name. A lot of my mentees had been telling me that they felt like their career or business was a mountain they couldn’t get over, and many people talk about their mentoring and training as a journey. I wanted a name that would show we’d make that journey easier for them, and the name Leapfrog Mountain came to me one day at 3am! It’s a shame these things come to you in the middle of the night and not in the middle of the day, but that’s often the way it goes!” On 16th June, Jackie received a letter from the Cabinet Office saying that she was to be recognised for her services to training and people development; recognition that she says was a complete surprise, and totally blew her away: “Being awarded an OBE means such an amazing amount to me, and it’s very humbling. For Leapfrog Mountain, I’m hoping that this OBE will give us an opportunity to get across to more people and organisations that people development is so important. Having the award is a huge honour, and hopefully it will give me a greater platform to share the message and the news that everybody really can make a difference.”
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Spotlight On... Enterprising Learner Viv Bellamy Viv Bellamy is a self-employed holistic therapist based in Bristol. Last month she was awarded her Level 2 Award in Enterprise and Employability through the city’s Centre for Capacity Building & Enterprise Development (CCBED), which has recently gained its IOEE Enterprise Academy status. This month we chatted to Viv about how the experience has not only given her a new qualification, but how the mentoring and support has given her the inspiration and confidence to embark upon a new and exciting chapter of her life and career.
Viv speaks with such passion, excitement and energy, but sadly experienced some personal tragedies and says that before she began working with CCBED, she had lost her confidence and faith in herself: “When I first came on the course, I didn’t have much confidence at all. I wasn’t happy with where I was at in life, or myself as an individual. I’d withdrawn from active life for quite some time; both work-wise and socially. My fire for life had been completely extinguished and I had lost hope and inspiration, but being involved with CCBED reignited that spark of enthusiasm.” Viv was referred to CCBED by a member of Bristol City Council and was put in touch with Jane Franklin, who would become her mentor, and Viv says how this relationship has shaped her journey: As a single mum to three boys, Viv knew that she wanted to create a career where she would have the flexibility to manage her time around busy family life with her children. Viv originally began her professional life working in health and fitness, before becoming a holistic therapist 15 years ago; a field that she is incredibly passionate about: “I always had an interest in health and wellbeing, and worked in fitness with personal trainers - with a particular interest in martial arts! I studied several different types of martial arts, which might seem like quite a contrast to what I do now, but they’re both rooted in similar principles - learning how to defend yourself better, and the healing aspect of connecting with your body.”
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“Because I’d withdrawn from life for some time, getting involved with CCBED was initially a bit daunting, but Jane put me completely at ease. I couldn’t believe the warmth and support I was greeted with from the outset. What Jane has done for me has been groundbreaking. There’s this idea that a fresh start means everything being different, but Jane said it wasn’t necessary to completely reinvent myself; that I could be happy with who I was and everything I’d achieved up to that point. She showed me that I could put all of my experience to good use, and reminded me of how to believe in myself, and that was completely priceless.” Whilst Viv’s confidence was developing, she was also developing the core enterprise and entrepreneurial skills that would help her to gain her new qualification:
Viv Bellamy, left, receiving her certificate from Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor - Communities.
“The mentors really did hold my hand through the nerves, but it was much more than a handholding experience. They were truly inspirational, and from a multitude of industries, so their insight was varied and invaluable. There was also a real community of support between all of the learners too. All my peers were from different backgrounds, different walks of life, and meeting and working alongside those people was an opportunity in itself.” Last month the CCBED held an awards ceremony and Viv was presented her certificate from Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor - Communities. Not only was it an enormous achievement to finally achieve that new qualification, but Viv says the event gave her another challenge and subsequent confidence boost alongside it: “Yes, I’d got my qualification, which was immense, but the event also boosted my ego on a personal level too. It was a big deal, there was a camera crew and a photographer there, and I used to consider myself a bit of a wallflower - but there I was, getting up on stage in front of all these people! I realised that I had finally found my courage - that I’m a survivor, and that I’ve got nothing to lose. This is my time to re-establish myself, and give myself the opportunity to be successful. Being up there, I felt so empowered.” Viv is now continuing her education by expanding into talking therapies too, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), so that she has a wide range of healing and wellbeing offerings when she is fully established as a sole trader. She is also planning to participate in a holistic show in October this year, where she will have the opportunity to showcase some of her treatments. Viv says:
“I’ll be offering samples of therapies, like aromatherapy massage, Indian head massage, crystal therapy and reflexology. The show will give me a chance to put some of the skills I’ve learnt in the last year into practice, such as new aspects of marketing myself, and gaging public response, mixing old and new skills and bringing everything together.” Despite gaining her qualification, Viv’s relationship with CCBED isn’t over yet, and she says that their ongoing support is helping her with every stage of working for herself: “I love their ‘open door’ policy - knowing they’re always there is really reassuring. CCBED has already set up a meeting for me about sole trading, so I’ll be even more educated and more prepared for all the ins and outs of working for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a lot of nerves along the way, but the whole experience has been full of positive energy. If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, then I’ve probably taken about three steps now, so I’m right at the beginning now, but CCBED has been my guiding light of inspiration. They’ve given me the courage to go for it, and I know I can do it! To anybody out there who is unemployed and feeling lost, I’d urge them to get involved with something like this. I have a new qualification and a new confidence, and I feel proud to be able to show my boys what you can do when you try. It has truly changed my life.” For more information on CCBED, please visit www.c-cbed.com
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Grand Idea business competition celebrates student enterprise The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) held its 10th annual Grand Idea awards evening on Thursday 8 June, celebrating student success and RAU’s continued commitment to student enterprise.
Pictured: The Royal Agricultural University’s Grand Idea award winners
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Established in 2008, the Grand Idea business competition gives students the opportunity to pitch their business idea to panel of expert judges, in the hope of winning a valuable cash injection and a bundle of in kind prizes. To celebrate RAU’s 10 year anniversary, the winner will receive a bumper prize pot worth £10,000. The 2017 Grand Idea winner was Luke Craven (BSc (Hons) International Business Management) and Adam Gray with their business BiJimini – offering eco-friendly farming for future generations. BiJimini produce ‘PowerFlour’, a premixed cricket flour which can be used in baking to add protein. Cricket flour is a cost and energy efficient alternative to traditional protein sources. As the Grand Idea winners their prizes will include: membership to the Institute of Directors and Enterprise Nation, a lunch for two at the Kings Head Hotel, and a marketing consultancy meeting with RAU alumnus and founder of Agro Mavens, Adrian Bell. The cash prize has been supported by DCS Group, Christine Cross Ltd, Amersi Foundation, Inclusive Ventures, and Harrison Clark Rickerbys solicitors. The Grand Idea runner-up was Anna Howlett (BSc (Hons) International Equine and Agricultural Business Management) with her business Anna Howlett Art. Anna will receive £500 to invest in to her business. She said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won the runner-up prize. I know that it will really help me develop and grow my business.” The judges for Grand Idea 2017 included Denys Shortt OBE (Chair), CEO and Founder of DCS Group; Professor Jo Price, RAU Vice-Chancellor; Ian Wilkinson, Managing Director of Cotswold Seeds; Christine Cross, global retail consultant; and Gillian Higgins, RAU alumna and founder of Horses Inside Out, who gave a speech at the awards evening. Denys Shortt said: “I am delighted to have been involved for all 10 years of the Grand Idea. It is inspiring to meet the students and help them with their business plans and in many cases to launch their careers. It is a great competition and leads right into the RAU’s Farm491 agritech innovation, which provides the physical space and support for these businesses to start their journey.” The RAU has continued to grow its enterprise offering, launching two more awards based on its nationally recognised enterprise model: ‘Think it’, ‘Try it’, ‘Launch it’, ‘Grow it’.
The ‘Try it’ Award winner was Kara Minto-Simpson (MSc Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security) with her business TUB, the low maintenance pot based growing system for the home. Kara has already received £250 of First Steps Funding to test her business idea and prove the concept (a prerequisite to enter this award). The ‘Try it’ award prize pot of £500 will provide the next step and help her further her business idea. The ‘Think it’ Award winner was Harry Devlin (BSc (Hons) International Business Management) and Harry Phipps (BSc (Hons) Bloodstock and Performance Horse Management) with their shoe business Devlin & Phipps, which aims to bring a splash of colour to the shoe industry. Over the past 10 years, Grand Idea has received 91 business ideas and enabled many students to launch and grow a successful business. In 2015/6, nine student businesses were launched, thanks to the help and support of the RAU’s dedicated Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programme. IOEE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Trouten, attended the Grand Ideas awards and said: “I was delighted to be able to attend the RAU and be a part of their 10th celebratory awards event. It was fantastic to witness the tremendous enthusiasm and commitment of Katy and her team there at RAU who have inspired and supported countless young people to go on to start their own business.”
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‘Enterprisingly Me’ is a monthly feature where you can follow my entrepreneurial adventures. Names have been changed to protect the innocent but everything you read really happened. I hope my story inspires you to take your first steps, or if you already have, then it lets you know you’re not on your own. Starting and running a successful business isn’t about being perfect. It’s about loving what you’re doing, learning from your mistakes and keeping the faith!
Well what a week. I feel like my head is spinning. I’ll try and share with you what has happened without getting too excited. Oh dear, when I think about what would have got me excited in the past I can’t believe I’m now excited about a meeting with a business adviser. What is the world coming to? Could life as I know it be about to swirl out of all recognition? For the first time in a long time I feel I could actually be in control of my own destiny. No more redundancy letters! I went prepared – a visit to the supplier (and confidante) I mentioned earlier, who has actually become a real gem in terms of helping me to get things into perspective, convinced me that I needed to be prepared. So armed with a lot of nerves and a sheet of A4 listing what I thought I could do I met with Bill from the Council. What if he didn’t like my idea? What if he didn’t like me? What if he thought I was wasting my time (and his)? Just as I was about to run to the loo (the nerves had taken over) Bill came to collect me with a wide smile and firm handshake. I was so pleased to see he was ‘normal’! I don’t know why but I had in my mind someone older,
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more official, more like my dad and someone ready to tell me what I couldn’t do. Why is that? Why did I start to put barriers in the way before I’d even got started? Maybe its because I’m actually questioning myself instead of using the positive thinking I know I am good at telling everyone else to adopt. Reasons to be cheerful: Part 1 I have prepared Part 2 I don’t need a lot of money to get started – however Bill had other thoughts, more of that later. Part 3 I make an attractive barmaid – well so I’ve been told. (Granted my admirer had consumed quite a lot of falling down juice at the time. Still, as I keep saying, if all else fails….) The meeting wasn’t what I expected - Bill didn’t really tell me what I should do. He did ask me lots of questions – some quite hard to answer and although I thought I was prepared I realised I still had some work to do. Bill is lovely – no not in that way! He’s really helped me to think about what I need to do next and has given me some information and links to websites to help me to firm up my plan. I came out of the meeting floating on air
– well possibly an exaggeration given the takeaway I ate last night – with the promise of a further meeting once I have worked on my plan. So I went to work on my plan and was making good progress when my boss called me into his office. Oh no, surely I wasn’t being made redundant before I’d actually got my business started? Well, quite the opposite actually. He explained that he realised I was probably going to set up my own business anyway and if I did would I consider working on a freelance basis for them. I could have kissed him! I didn’t obviously, and the moment passed very quickly given he’s a happily married man with two grown up children and 20 years older than me. I had been thinking about how hard it would be to leave a group of women that I have been helping to get back into work but it seems that now I don’t have to.
enough to set up my office and to cover my costs until my customers start to pay me. I’m wondering whether I should start from home but could be difficult as I don’t have a spare room and the kids have a particular style of answering the telephone which isn’t really conducive to the professional image I want to project. It ranges from ‘Good Morning, thank you for calling the House of Sin’ to ‘Who is it?’ Saying that it would be nice to be around when the kids come home from school but if the business takes off in the way I hope I won’t be around much anyway during the day. I’m thinking its probably best to work on my financial projections to see what is affordable although Bill said they have very good deals for office space for new starters. OMG I’m going to be a real entrepreneur ... or at least a business owner. Is there a difference? Note to self : Ask Bill. Me x
The best of both worlds - I can run my own business whilst still delivering training on behalf of my current employer. Obviously we will have to agree terms as and when I get started but I do feel a lot happier knowing that I have some income already for at least the first few months and who knows maybe even longer if I play my cards right. I couldn’t wait to tell the family. All I need now is to find out exactly what type of business will be right for me and arrange a meeting with the bank to see if they would be happy to lend me the money to get started. I only need
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Spotlight On...
Tim Rivett Tim Rivett is the Mentoring Manager for the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). Working closely with SFEDI, the mentoring organisations and the High Street banks, Tim supports bank employees on their journey to gaining qualifications in mentoring, so that they in turn are able to successfully use their business experience to positively impact SMEs across the country. We chatted to Tim to find out how mentoring impacts SMEs, the BBA’s relationship with SFEDI, and his plans moving forward into his sixth year in his role.
How did your role at the BBA come about? In 2011, as part of the Government’s commitment to increase investment in the small business economy, they challenged the banks to create a series of commitments. 17 Commitments came out of this process, the biggest was a commitment to provide a national free-of-charge mentoring scheme aimed at small businesses. Lloyds Bank was given the task of initiating this, and I joined them from Royal Mail in February of that year to get the programme off the ground. We launched in July 2011 and have been very successful; growing bigger and getting lots of positive feedback. How does the mentoring programme work? The banks provide us with the volunteers from their teams. These are then trained by SFEDI to get their Level 3 qualifications in Enterprise Mentoring. After this, the mentors are then able to be matched with a suitable mentee; someone whose specific area of expertise will help the small business to grow, develop and flourish. Finding the right mentor-mentee relationship takes time, and we often find the best mentees by attending events - where there are a high number of potential mentees in a concentrated area. It also helps us to further understand the local economy of that region, which is imperative when you’re helping to develop small businesses. What shape does the mentor training take? The training is in two parts. The first part looks at some fundamental questions: What is mentoring? Why do it? What are the benefits? Who is it aimed at? The second part is a much softer part - looking at the way that one should work with mentees; such things as that
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counselling aspect, reading body language, offering guidance. What we’re really trying to do is to make sure that they’re confident in their ability as a mentor, so they have the tools to effectively pass on their expertise. What are the key elements of mentoring sessions? The whole experience centres around having and setting goals and objectives - mentors will guide mentees, but the mentees need to know what they want and where they are trying to get to, so that the sessions can be orientated around how they are going to achieve this. It’s also very important that the bank mentors focus on their areas of expertise. If, say, you were mentoring a farmer who wanted to get better yield from crops, we’re not encouraging mentors to relate to their mentee’s industry, but to use their own set of skills that will help the business develop. Essentially, it’s all about staying in the comfort zone of your particular business expertise and putting your best foot forward, so that the mentees can too. What impact do you think mentoring has on SMEs? Mentoring boosts small businesses’ confidence levels an extraordinary amount - they become so much more confident in their abilities, and in making serious commitments and big decisions. Of course, the mentee gets the benefits of the bank mentor’s specific area of expertise, but spinning out this newfound confidence really comes down to the mentor’s management and leadership techniques. One of the areas we see this really play out is in recruitment - there’s
“
Mentoring boosts small businesses’ confidence levels an extraordinary amount - they become so much more confident in their abilities, and in making serious commitments and big decisions.”
often just one or two people in the early stages of a start-up, and the idea of recruiting staff can be intimidating. It’s a big, big step for a small business to take on more staff, so giving mentees confidence in expansion and managing a team helps them to develop and grow their business.
only one place to go. Using the IOEE to match our mentors with the right mentees enables us to closely monitor what works and what doesn’t, and SFEDI are incredibly well-equipped in delivering - we couldn’t have done this without SFEDI Group and the expertise they brought.
How many businesses has the BBA supported?
What are your plans for the future?
The BBA has supported around 3,000 businesses so far. It’s a huge amount, but we’d like it to be more. We’ve currently got around 700 bank mentors out there, which is fantastic, but we were at our height in 2015, when we had about 1000.
The first two or three years of working on this project was absolutely fantastic, as at that stage you are just building and building, and watching it gain momentum and grow. However, after that it levels out, and we’re now looking at ways in which to boost volunteer mentors again, and are in the process of making decisions on moving forward. Finally I think we need to look at how we best use mentors’ skills. There is a lot of expertise and knowledge that the bank mentors can bring - imagine a Senior Banker who has been working with clients for 30 years – they have so much expertise across a variety of areas of businesses to pass on, and I don’t think we have scratched the surface with this yet. In the banking community, mentoring is so beneficial, so my ambition for the next year is simply to increase that commitment, so that we can benefit even more SMEs than ever before.
One of the challenges we have is to ensure that mentoring is something people are excited by doing, that it continues to be stimulating. Various factors contribute to the amount of bank mentors we have at any one time, but we’re currently looking at ways to increase the number, and one of the ways we will do this is by reenergising the programme. How does the BBA work with the IOEE? SFEDI and the IOEE are partners who bring a whole host of things that we need for this project - and it’s not an exaggeration to say that we could not have done this and be where we are today without them. If you want mentoring training, accreditation, a full breadth of services around people management and training, then there’s
Interested in finding out more about the BBA? Visit the website: www.bba.org.uk
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Spotlight on‌
Pauric McGowan Pauric McGowan is the President of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), and a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Development at the University of Ulster in Belfast. He is passionate about how an entrepreneurial mindset can help people navigate their careers and how this, in turn, can shape our social, cultural and economic climate. This month we chatted to Pauric about his role as a professor, and how everybody can unleash their entrepreneurial potential.
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How did your enterprising and entrepreneurial journey begin?
entrepreneurship - is it an old-fashioned perspective that it simply means ‘starting a business’?
My father had his own business and I was heavily influenced by the idea of working for yourself, and I also liked the idea of business practice. When he passed away, my brother and I took over the company - a retail outlet - and this gave me the experience of running a company, before I moved into academia. However, even though I’m working at a university, it’s still an entrepreneurial challenge, and I use the same sorts of skills and thinking to help me to be effective in this space.
I think the principles and practices of entrepreneurial venture can and should be fine-tuned to other constituencies - I’m working on this outside of the university, and it’s bearing fruit. As the President of ISBE, I’ve been working to develop this type of entrepreneurial thinking within allied healthcare, for example.
Have you always had an entrepreneurial streak? I think of myself as a ‘pracademic’, rather than an academic; I’m a practical person and find myself more comfortable doing things. I like being active, I like being challenged, and I like solving problems - finding an issue, and then finding a way to overcome it and make it work. I think that’s an entrepreneurial trait - keeping at a problem until it’s solved - and setting up and running a business is one demonstration of how that entrepreneurial attitude can be exercised, but it’s not the only way. Tell us about your position at the University of Ulster… I’ve been attached to Ulster Business School for 23 years, though I’ve been seconded out to focus on work that helped SMEs to develop in the region, and to work as the Director for the Northern Ireland Centre of Entrepreneurship. I’m now back as a Professor and I teach mostly on postgraduate programmes, which means that the majority of the people on the course are senior managers within existing enterprises. We run some amazing programmes here, and one of the best is the MSc in Business Development and Innovation, where I teach the entrepreneurship model. Entrepreneurship is not simply about starting a business; it’s about developing an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial thinking. Is this a new innovative way of approaching
I also do workshops with teachers and healthcare providers in developing entrepreneurial thinking and competencies, and I regularly speak at conferences and events. Last year I was a keynote speaker at a conference for the National Institute of Occupational Health - look at healthcare in the UK, and most commentators would agree it needs some entrepreneurial thinking. What do you think defines being an entrepreneur? Literature and research talks of ‘The Entrepreneur’ as a discreet individual, but I don’t think it exists like that. I think everyone has it - there are degrees of entrepreneurial thinking and potential, and we need to try to get people to be more entrepreneurial. When I start a programme, I usually ask who thinks of themselves as an entrepreneur, and you’ll see about three hands raised out of 40. By the end of the workshop, everybody feels like they are, and that’s where it begins - changing people’s mindset. I’m extremely passionate about that, as it has the potential to be a game-changer for people, which is incredibly exciting. When people once stayed within a company or industry and ‘climbed the ladder’, ‘portfolio careers’ and flexible working are becoming more common today. As a result, do you think it’s become more essential to develop entrepreneurial skills? Absolutely, I would definitely subscribe to that idea. The more that we can get people to recognise their entrepreneurial potential, the better - but we’re already shifting. I know colleagues who have developed standards
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in Higher Education for entrepreneurial thinking, which shows that entrepreneurial education is growing. The more we can get people thinking entrepreneurially in UK, the more people will start new businesses, and you can’t do it the other way around - encouraging people to start businesses and then think entrepreneurially would be like trying to roll a rock up a hill. Changing the way people think could change the whole environment of our society - we would change socially, culturally, politically, economically. You’re very active in research, having been involved in over 50 research publications and case studies. What are you researching at the moment? One of the key interests I have is in gender entrepreneurship, and I’ve recently supervised four Ph.D projects in this space. There’s a very real issue around selfconfidence, so it’s about encouraging women to behave in a more entrepreneurial way and take these calculated risks - whether it’s launching or developing a new business or, say, challenging the status quo in the public health services. The more we get answers, the more we can move forward, and I’m very interested in working through gender entrepreneurship issues for a positive outcome. What advice would you give to people who have set up their own businesses, or aspiring entrepreneurs? From a behavioural point of view, there is a tendency to give up too quickly. One of the key issues I like to challenge people with is their sense of determination
to see a project through. There will always be moments when things don’t work out the way you want them to, and there’ll be the temptation to throw in the towel, but it’s all part of the process. I’d advise people to use personal networks as well - I definitely benefited from people guiding me throughout my career. At the end of the day, entrepreneurial activity is a team sport. Absolutely everybody needs to know that their team is both inside and outside the business. How do you see entrepreneurship in the future? I think that self-employment is going to be the ‘New Big Thing’ in the next five to 10 years. I attended a workshop in Westminster about 18 months ago, where we looked at the challenge of developing self-employment, and there were some incredible statistics on the subject. One USA study predicted than from 2025, over 50% of graduates would be self-employed. Imagine if we could release that entrepreneurial potential in everybody - it would be massive! It’s going in the right direction, and it could be revolutionary. One of the challenges we have is to ensure that mentoring is something people are excited by doing, that it continues to be stimulating. Various factors contribute to the amount of bank mentors we have at any one time, but we’re currently looking at ways to increase the number, and one of the ways we will do this is by reenergising the programme.
Calling IOEE Members Are you an IOEE Member with an entrepreneurial story to tell? Every month IOEE shines the spotlight on enterprising individuals recognising their entrepreneurial skills, experience and dedication. If you’re interested in being featured, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact: newsletter@ioee.uk 28 | Think Enterprise
NATIONAL SURVEY OF BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE SUPPORT: HAVE YOUR SAY We’re currently carrying out a piece of national research into business and enterprise support to guide strategy and policy. Your opinion is vital to this research. If you could spare a minimum of fifteen minutes to complete our online survey you’ll be helping to shape the future business support landscape.
Click here to have your say... Developed in consultation with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the overall aim of this research is to explore the dynamics of the business and enterprise support landscape, from both a demand and supply-side perspective. In particular, the research will: • •
• •
Explore the types of business and enterprise support that small businesses are seeking to address their developmental needs and requirements Unpack the perceptions of small business owner-managers as to the recent changes to the business and enterprise support and learning and skills landscape and the proposals within the Industrial Strategy Assess the extent and nature of business and enterprise support offered across different LEP areas in England Explore the ways in which the quality of business support can be reviewed and enhanced.
To complete the survey, click here to visit:
www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/business-support-research
“Losing the stereotype of
‘The Entrepreneur’ will inspire more people to work for themselves.” Matthew Rogers-Draycott is a Compliance Director at Arcadia Nursing Recruitment and a lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Worcester, as well as being an IOEE Fellow. This month we spoke to Matt to discuss how the economy is changing the way that we work, his passion for helping people to set up their own businesses, and how shaking off the stereotype of ‘The Entrepreneur’ can show people that they also have the potential to make a career on their own terms.
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Matt has been teaching enterprise and entrepreneurship skills for almost a decade. He was involved in the designing of the University of Worcester’s Entrepreneurship degree from its inception, and rejoined the university as a lecturer in June last year. He delivers on a number of modules across the course, including The Entrepreneurial Mindset, Business Modelling, Business Strategy, and Business Planning. Matt says: “I teach on an undergraduate course, but there’s a diverse range of students on there, so it’s not just your post-sixth form 18 yearold crowd, and this in itself is reflective of economic change; it’s not just affecting young people, it’s impacting people of all ages at all stages of their careers. People are being made redundant, or leaving jobs, or coming back from career breaks, and they’re making assessments and asking themselves ‘do I still want to be employed and work for somebody else, or do I want to take my skills and go off and do something with it myself?’ Of course, sometimes the diverse group can create friction and tension in the classroom, but it also brings about some really interesting ideas. You’ve got people from all backgrounds and levels of experience sharing thoughts and concepts, and the end result can be fascinating - and it probably wouldn’t be such a beneficial learning experience if you put a more ‘traditional’ group together.” Matt first played with his entrepreneurial streak when he was just 18 years old himself, setting up a business with a friend, and although it didn’t achieve great success, Matt says it taught him valuable business skills, as well as helping to shape where he is today: “We set up a company providing high-end media systems to various companies, such as pubs and bars - my friend’s father was in business and he thought we had a strong idea, so he backed us. We were fairly young and naïve and it wasn’t wildly successful, but it was definitely a useful life lesson. And today, that friend is my business partner at Arcadia, and his father is the Executive Chairman, so our initial business venture may not have gone anywhere, but the experience has still shaped my career.” Matt says that as our economy is changing, it’s important to consider that there is a difference between people ‘wanting to’ and ‘having to’ work for themselves. By looking at the World Economic Forum Data that came out last year, he says that you can see the prediction of many ‘traditional’ careers and industries declining or disappearing in the next 10 years. This includes such things as low-tech manufacturing, which is now being automated heavily; accountancy, which is being supported with web tools; and even PAs and administrative roles, which are being replaced with online software. Matt says: “We’re starting to see it everywhere, such as the self-service checkouts in supermarkets, as technology replaces people to reduce staffing costs. Structurally, the economy is shifting, and I think that people are realising now that portfolio working and the gig economy are here to stay. Essentially, we’re shifting to a more American model, where it’s quite
normal for people to have several jobs. As someone who teaches entrepreneurship, it’s a really good thing to see people wanting to do something for themselves, as it will create economic growth but are the underlying reasons why this is happening a good thing? That depends on your viewpoint. The more European view is to have employment protection, whereas the more American view is to have the freedom. I’m torn between the two, and I can fully appreciate both sides, and it makes a fascinating debate.” Matt finds it extremely rewarding to help his students readjust what they think makes ‘an entrepreneur’, but he says that this stereotype is a problem in the wider world too: “One of the biggest misconceptions of entrepreneurship is this idea of the ‘unicorn entrepreneur’. People hear the word ‘entrepreneur’ and it instantly takes them to a Richard Branson-esque idea of a macho, dominated, works-90-hours-per-week sort of fictional character. But in actual fact, there are entrepreneurs in every area of our economy - people delivering your takeaway, or your online food shop, consultants doing projects, freelancers writing the articles that you’re reading. That ‘wealthy businessman’ idea can be great in that it creates something aspirational for people, but at the same time it pushes other people away. And that’s one of the great shames - people think that they can’t do it, and they really, really can.” In Matt’s 10 years of teaching entrepreneurship, he says he has seen the same challenges again and again, and believes that the key elements to a business’ success are a solid foundation in how the business is put together, and then knowing how to take a product to market. Matt says: “You often see that dream of ‘just sell a few of these and I’ll be a millionaire’, but obviously it doesn’t work like that! Every day I see people come to me with crazy madcap plans that will never work, but if you scale it back and break it down - look at the market, decide what’s feasible, understand your customer, develop a model, plan, test, deliver - then there’s almost always a gem of something that will work. However, lots of people just want to be right at the end straight away and not do the hard work first. The best advice that I could give to aspiring entrepreneurs would be to just take it one step at a time.” The University of Worcester’s Business School is an IOEE Centre of Excellence, and Matt says that he is proud of the credibility this brings to both the institution and his position as a lecturer, but also the opportunities that this brings his students: “As a lecturer, it gives us that recognition that what we are doing is important, and that it’s accepted by a broader community outside of the industry, and it also highlights to our students that there’s a certain level of quality here, and a real respect for what we do. But more than that, giving students the opportunity to become a member themselves, and to use the IOEE’s resources to enhance their learning, means that they’re able to develop their enterprise and entrepreneurial skills even further.”
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What have I got to give? IOEE are delighted to welcome back our guest blogger, Clare Talbot-Jones. Clare and her husband, Richard, run Talbot Jones Risk Solutions, based in Felling, Gateshead. In this month’s blog, Clare shares her ideas on how small businesses can help support charities.
When we launched our business last year we had to reduce our charity giving in order to stay within our budget. To offset this financial reduction, we started to think about some more practical ways we could support charities. These are some of the ideas we came up with:
their profile and connect with supporters. You might have time weekly or monthly, or perhaps your availability is limited to one-off occasions. The skills you’ve developed, practiced and honed over many years are priceless. Whatever the scenario, there’s a charity out there that values what you have to offer.
1. Volunteer your skills Your legal/digital/HR/PR consultancy services would be invaluable for a charity. Or perhaps you have more practical skills like joinery, mechanics or building? Local photographer Gavin Forster is currently donating his services to local homeless charity NEH, helping to raise
2. Train a volunteer Can you spare some time to train up a charity worker so they are better equipped to meet the needs of their organisation? Sharing your social media, book keeping or marketing skills would be invaluable.
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WRITTEN BY CLARE TALBOT-JONES
3. Volunteer your time Westgate Ark, a local cat rescue centre, is always looking for volunteers to come and spend time with their cats, to help keep them entertained or customised to human interaction. Local community centres may need help keeping their grounds tidy. Or could you help with taxiing people around, making deliveries, preparing food, sorting clothes…? The opportunities are endless, but a little bit of our time can go a long way for charities. 4. Volunteer your staff Corporate Social Responsibility comes in many forms. Volunteering your staff to go clear out a charity’s allotment can be a really uniting and fun experience that helps draw your staff into the community and develop strong links. We do suggest that companies consider the skills required: Is it wise for your bunch of earnest office workers to pile into a youth club and paint the walls, or a better idea to pay a local, skilled decorator to do the job, paying his wages and ensuring the job is completed to a high quality. One really valuable type of CSR is where employees are allowed a certain number of volunteer hours or days a year. That allows your volunteer football coach to take a day off in the summer to coach at a charity summer school, a scout leader to take an afternoon away so he can pack the van and drive the kids to camp, or a trustee to attend training or a board meeting. This allows our staff to be involved in meaningful, targeted and consistent giving, building deep, sustained relationships through dedicated service. This might give less opportunity for the hilarity and team-building shenanigans of the typical group CSR, but, wisely applied, can bring a sense of respect, appreciation and flexibility. This can bring a sense of wellbeing, contentment and community-mindedness among our staff that promotes well-being and is an asset to our community and to our business. 5. Become a trustee Becoming a trustee of a charity should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, giving you the opportunity to be involved in a community, or cause, which matters to you. It allows you to gain new experiences, training, development and skills, helping you to build on your professional experience. Becoming a trustee gives you opportunities to meet a diverse range of people, and work alongside others from all walks of life and it allows you to put your skills and interests to good use, and to make a real difference in your community. Trustee vacancies nationwide can be found at http://trusteesweek. org/find/ 6. Donate your products or services for prizes Weekend breaks, meals out and jewellery are all prizes that would be quickly snapped up by most charities, in order to raise money in a raffle, auction or competition. Maybe your product or service is a little less glamorous. But there’s still a market for it somewhere! We know solicitors who have offered will-writing as a prize or support to complete a Lasting Power of Attorney application.
7. Attend events There are a myriad of ways in which we can spend our free time. Keep your eyes open and you’ll find out about a whole range of events local to you- from gala dinners to obstacles runs, bungee jumps and pamper day, there really is something for everyone. Getting involved isn’t just fun for us- building our connections in the community, widening our experiences and broadening our awareness- it’s also great for the charity. It helps increase awareness, promotes their name and activities, raises money and encourages their team. 8. Promote events Just because it’s not practical or possible for us to attend an event doesn’t mean we can’t offer a helping hand to promote it. Pressing ‘share’ on social media takes a second- and yet can increase the audience reach by hundreds. Inviting people, disseminating through our mailing list or writing a blog take a little bit more time, but can have a really stirring input. 9. Raise awareness Getting conversations started, be it online or in real life, has a huge impact for charities. Keeping charity names or campaigns in our conversations keeps them in our minds. They help build trust, increase credibility and start the long journey of garnering life-long supporters and instigating change. Random Acts of Kindness are great…but where we can make the most impact and build the strongest communities, is by consistent, proactive, responsive service and support. If there’s a particular charity that’s close to your heart, why not get in touch to volunteer your services or to find out what needs you may be able to meet. The Cranfield Trust match volunteers with business skills with NotFor-Profits who need support and directories like Charity Choice provide an online service that can help you find charities, filtered by objectives and region. Charities welcome our financial donations, which help fund them and drive them forward. But, in addition to the financial contributions that we can afford, we have a whole lot more that we can offer, that is of great worth to the communities and causes that matter to us. Who can you support today?
You can find out more about Talbot Jones Risk Solutions via their website and social media channels below:
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North-East talent blossoms into successful artist
Ailsa Victoria Miller is an artist from North East England. She creates beautiful original botanical pastel drawings, prints and gifts that are inspired by the vivid colours of nature. Ailsa’s entrepreneurial journey is an extraordinary one, having overcome enormous personal challenges and obstacles to make a living from doing something that brings her joy. This month we chatted to Ailsa to talk about how art has shaped her life, what is the driving force behind her work, and how the Captured programme helped her to develop the skills and confidence she needed to successfully run her own business. Ailsa’s early experience of art almost set her back before she began. After completing her Art GCSE, Ailsa moved onto Art A-Level, but despite her indisputable talent, she didn’t pass, and she was subsequently told by a teacher that she would never have a career in art: “Students were paired with a teacher to review their grades and I was paired up with a French teacher who didn’t know anything about art - and rather than being given advice on what to do next, they simply said to me ‘well, that’s the end of art for you’. I was written off, just like that, and it was incredibly disheartening.” However, Ailsa’s strength and fight was apparent even back then. One of her friends was going to study at North Tyneside College and Ailsa spontaneously applied for a place on a BTEC National course: “I decided to go for it completely on a whim, though I didn’t expect anything would come of it. But I went along for an interview with my portfolio – and I got an unconditional offer!” After completing her BTEC and HND, Ailsa went on to do a degree in Fashion and Printed Textiles at Northumbria University, but it was
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while she was preparing for its final year show in London in 2001 that Ailsa’s health took a turn: “I was kneeling down to do the hem of a dress and I felt something ‘squish’ to the side of my knee. I hobbled and limped my way through it, but it only got worse, and my hands became badly affected too, as well as all the joints down my left side. I was sent to the hospital, where I was tested for all sorts, and it turned out to be inflammatory arthritis - I was only in my 20s. I knew I had to change career. The fashion industry is highly physical and stressful, and I needed to think practically - I couldn’t do art when my hands were affected and so I got an office job, something where I was sitting down, and I presumed that this would be my career from here on out.”
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It’s amazing to think how far I’ve come, that there was once a time where I didn’t want to leave the house, and now here I am - working at big art events in beautiful venues.”
Ailsa was put on very strong medication to control her arthritis, which meant that she had to be monitored at the hospital every two weeks, as well as having to have her knee drained and regular steroid injections. However, although Ailsa felt that she was starting to live a normal life by having an office job, it unfortunately became a difficult and stressful place to work: “I just went into myself and became like a zombie, feeling completely numb, until eventually I had to leave – and I just went down completely. This combined with a stressful home environment became too much. I was living with my parents and my sister, who is bedridden with severe M.E., and I became a carer of sorts too, even though I was struggling with my own health. As a family, we were often sleep deprived, as my sister usually slept through the day and was awake with pain through the night. I fell apart, lost all of my confidence, thinking that it was impossible to work in art or in an office job, and I feared I’d never work again. I was depressed, anxious, reclusive, and I felt utterly hopeless. I didn’t know what to do.”
Glowing Dutch, Ailsa’s artwork.
Ailsa describes this period of her life as a time when she could only see the negative in everything, unable to process emotions. As her arthritis became manageable she took steps to improve her wellbeing, with extensive therapy and CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). Ailsa felt stuck for a very long time, feeling that she might always be in this situation, unable to carry out normal everyday tasks - until one day, when she found inspiration in the most surprising of places: “To get me out of the house, my Mam would insist that I went for a walk around the block with her each day. I didn’t want to, but as I started to feel a bit better I also started to notice nature; the vibrancy and colour of the flowers lifted me and I began to look at the world a bit differently. One cold and sunny October day I noticed the colours looking particularly vibrant, so I took a camera along with me and started photographing the leaves and the berries, and I began to wonder whether I would be able to draw them. I hadn’t had the mental capacity to focus for such a long time, so it was very daunting, but I started small, just working on A4, and bringing the photos to life with pastels made me feel uplifted.” Ailsa worked on her art at the kitchen table and visitors started to comment on how much they loved the colours and how the pictures
made them feel - warm, happy, comforted – and Ailsa felt excited that her art was not only having a positive effect on herself, but how it could affect and transform other people’s moods too. Ailsa says she never thought this could be a job, but a family friend, David, had heard Ailsa had been unwell and invited her out, and as their friendship developed, he began to photograph Ailsa’s portfolio. “David used these photos and had them printed on various products, such as notebooks and mugs, showing me what I could create. He opened my eyes to the possibility of actually making money from my art, and gave me the push to give it a go. He helped me to order products and I went on a social media course to learn how to promote myself a bit, and suddenly it was really happening!” Ailsa launched her business and website in 2015 and joined the Inspire network, and this in turn led her to the Captured programme. Devised by Newcastle University, Captured is one of the successful proposals in a competition held by UKCES (UK Commission for Employment and Skills), and the programme is based on the premise that connecting small business owners with managers from larger organisations can provide mutual benefit at both an individual and business level. Ailsa says:
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“Captured runs as four half-day workshops, and the experience was invaluable to me. I’d studied art, but I didn’t have a clue about the business side of things. I’m not a ‘business person’, or at least I didn’t think I was, but what the Captured course taught me was that I actually enjoy business! I thought I needed to be really academic, but the mentors got rid of that stigma and it was much less intimidating than I had imagined. They broke down the barriers and explained the business terminology, and helped me to realise that you don’t need to be a person in a fancy suit to successfully run a company.” “There are two pieces of advice from Captured that really stood out for me. The first was that you will try lots of things and they won’t work – but this is okay, and all part of the development process, and it’s not a sign that you’re failing. The other was ‘look from the outside in’ – so instead of just focusing on the art I was creating and then thinking about selling it afterwards, I turned this around to work backwards. I began to think of the events I would be selling at, and what people wanted, and now take these factors into consideration in the work I am creating.” Ailsa sells her original work at arts events around the North East
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of England, as well as through her own website, and has plans to develop the business in the near future – though she says she never imagined she would be in this position: “It’s amazing to think how far I’ve come, that there was once a time where I didn’t want to leave the house, and now here I am - working at big arts events in beautiful venues. But my experience is also my motivation too – I want to be able to share the power of how colour can transform how you feel, and to bring joy into other people’s lives. And not only am I an artist, but I’ve learnt how to be a business person too - Captured gave me that assurance, and I wouldn’t be planning to go and sell at bigger events without that confidence. Art has changed me – and that family friend, David, is now my husband! So my work really has changed every aspect of my life! My journey so far has taught me that you are capable of much more than you think you are, and it’s exciting to think of what I’m capable of next.”
To view more of Ailsa’s collection, please visit https:/ailsavictoriamiller.co.uk/
INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT HOW MENTORING COULD HELP YOUR BUSINESS? Mentoring has a strong track record of helping businesses meet their objectives. The Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) helps match businesses with mentors from the banking industry, who are able to give an hour of their time per month, across the following regions:
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North East
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Yorkshire
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West Midlands
Central London
The volunteer bank mentors offer a wide variety of business experience and expertise with small and micro businesses, social enterprises and creative businesses. Are you interested in meeting a mentor? For more information contact Paul Harper paul.harper@ioee.uk or 07715 905638. * To be eligible to receive support you business must be established and begun trading. Our dedicated volunteer mentors are passionate about helping their mentees.
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The key skill I have taken from this experience is true active listening. I have applied those skills at home and at work and I am finding the results are having a lasting impact. The reason I continue to mentor today is the positive feeling I get when I help others achieve their dreams and ambitions. It’s a great way to give something back to the local community through sharing my knowledge and experience.”
Carl Beardon
IOEE Volunteer Mentor IAB Small Business Mentor of the Year 2016 award winner
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My mentor’s support and level of understanding has been exceptional, which was the key in identifying and overcoming issues as they arose. With his experience I have become self sufficient working through the challenges my business faces and to identify new business partners who have exporting experience.”
Dorota Grabkowska
Founder of Fanatic House
One year on, Dance Studio Leeds steps up its success In 2009 Katie Geddes set up The Dance Studio Leeds (DSL), bringing together her professional dance training and her entrepreneurial spirit. When we first spoke to Katie in 2016, the IOEE had just matched her with a mentor, Colin Kemp, through the Meet a Mentor scheme. One year on, we catch up with Katie and Colin to see how their mentoring relationship has helped to shape DSL as a business and how it inspired Katie to find that elusive work-life balance.
Katie’s Story
When Katie and Colin began their mentoring relationship, Katie was pregnant with her first child, so as well as having to look at DSL from a business perspective, Katie was also having to consider the change in her personal life, with maternity leave not far away. Katie says:
“Knowing that I was going to have to take a step back was really difficult, as I had been in control for such a long time, but Colin helped me to realise that stepping back was a good thing. I was working 50-60 hour weeks and that wasn’t going to be feasible anymore, but he gave me this great advice - to think of myself as the conductor of the orchestra, rather than being in amongst it playing a part. Colin helped me to get perspective and to let go, and a mentor can get through to you in a way that your family and friends can’t, as when it’s a business person who is telling you that doing less hours doesn’t mean you’re less successful, you actually believe them!” Katie shared the day-to-day responsibilities of DSL, such as running the reception and organising schedules, with two parttime employees, but she took on two more members of staff in anticipation of her maternity leave; roles that have been kept on even after Katie’s return to work: “I now have four members of staff on the payroll, which has doubled since before I had my little boy, and maintaining those roles postmaternity leave has meant that I’ve been able to balance work with family life, as well as readjusting my position at DSL. Colin advised me to ‘working on the business, not in the business’, and it really stuck with me.” 38 | Think Enterprise
When Katie first met Colin, she was considering expanding DSL by taking on a third studio space, and the two of them discussed the financial side of things to help Katie decide her next step. Katie says: “It didn’t matter than Colin wasn’t experienced in the dance industry - I actually think this was really beneficial, as he was able to look at DSL purely as a business, passing on his financial knowledge and helping me to improve my cashflow. Because of that understanding, I could make the decision to convert another space in our complex to create a third studio in August last year. “We’re now able to hold bigger dance classes, activities and events, whereas we were a little bit too small for some of those beforehand. Some our clients - the dance teachers - are running more classes now, and we’ve expanded our offering too. We’ve added more ballet classes, an Irish class, an African dance fitness class, and some baby dance classes, and we have a few new ones in the pipeline too.” Katie and Colin met on several occasions over the last year, and these meetings helped Katie to reassess what had and hadn’t worked in the past, and to set goals and objectives for the future meetings that she felt she missed due to not having a manager - and the informal nature of the mentoring only helped Katie further: “The meetings with Colin were very relaxed, which really put me at ease. You feel like you’re chatting to a friend. Colin was very supportive and I really wanted to do well for him too, as he was giving me his time, expertise and advice. When DSL put on a charity dance show to raise funds for Yorkshire Cancer Research in October, Colin came along to support it, which was lovely. Having a mentor to check in with gave me discipline too. If there was a meeting looming, it would spur me on to get moving, so I could report back with what I’d done. It’s so helpful when you don’t have a manager on top of you, to have someone there to talk through your ideas with, measure how you’ve progressed so far and how to move forward. It’s been such a big year, I now have a little boy and
The Dance Studio Leeds. Photography by Brian Slater.
I’ve stepped back at work, so it’s time to tighten everything with the business so it can run as efficiently and effectively as possible, and I can finally focus on being the conductor.” Colin’s Story Colin worked for Lloyds Bank for many years and began mentoring around 18 months ago whilst he was planning for his retirement. He did some mentoring skills training through Lloyds and volunteered to help small businesses, before being matched up with Katie - his very first mentee. Colin says: “Katie’s biggest challenge was learning to let go of certain aspects of the business. When we first met she was quite conflicted about stepping back, and was wrestling with how she was going to manage to grow her business and have a baby, but we worked through all of this. It’s the biggest change I have seen in Katie - she became clear in her priorities, which was her family, and she developed the confidence to accept stepping back. I advised her to remember not to be working in the business instead of on it, and she really took that on board.” Colin says that helping someone to trust themselves and to have that confidence is one of the key aspects of mentoring, and that he himself had to step back too: “You’re trying to be a critical friend, to be someone who they can talk through their ideas and plans with, help them organise their thoughts. Very rarely do you ask a question where your mentee doesn’t already have the answer. If you ask someone what they should be doing and ‘why aren’t you doing it then?!’, they always have the answer - time, money, confidence. Katie had all the answers, all I’ve done is help her shape her own thinking. “I think that one of the hardest things I found was trying not to dive in and try to provide answers to questions that Katie was asking. With mentoring, you have to remember that you’re not a business coach; you’re there to guide people and help them to come to their
own conclusions.” Throughout their meetings, Colin helped Katie to talk through the financial side of taking on a new studio space and expanding the business, and together they discussed the risks - what would happen if you do it, what would happen if you don’t - and Colin says that Katie was particularly dedicated and determined to move the business forward: “We’d put plans in place for things to Katie to explore, and then I’d go back to meet her a few weeks later and she’d have tried some of those things and they’d helped - as a mentor, this is very, very satisfying. She also had the guts to take on that additional studio space, and her efforts have paid off.” Although Katie has driven the business forward over the last year, Colin says that Katie needs to hang on to what she’s learnt as she moves into the next year: “Katie was in a transitional period when I first met her, just about to embark upon maternity leave, but now that she’s back to work, she’s in another transitional period of sorts. We’ve talked about her picking up and taking on the parts of the business that are right for her, and having confidence in her position as the creative force behind DSL. She can have other people doing the books and covering the reception, and those sorts of administrative jobs - but she’s the artistic drive here. DSL is her vision, so she needs to make sure she still steps back from those other things and focuses on that.” Colin now works with three mentees and will be continuing to mentor in the future: “On a personal level, mentoring is also just a great experience. Katie runs a contemporary dance studio and I’m a 60 year-old bloke that worked in a bank, so they’re not really industries that cross paths! Having the opportunity to find out about another world is really fascinating.” Think Enterprise | 39
Young IOEE mentor is wise beyond his years David Williams is an IOEE enterprise mentor who recently established an Enterprise Mentoring relationship with mentee Barbara Govan and her award winning independent TV production and training company, Screenhouse, despite being just 25 years old. We caught up with David to find out why age is no barrier to mentoring success.
Leeds-based David Williams works as a Business Analyst for Lloyds Banking Group, in a team called Group Change Management. It is a role that involves working on cross-Group initiatives with the ultimate aim of helping to deliver strategic goals, as he outlines: “An area of the bank may want to improve the efficiency of a system or need to deliver a change activity and requires extra or specialist resource to help achieve this. Wherever they’re based in the UK, they can call on Group Change Management to help them deliver projects and programmes by providing specialist resources. We’re like a hub on a bike wheel and the different banking divisions are the spokes.” Having left school at 18, David undertook a trainee management scheme with Lloyds, gaining experience as a customer advisor and in meeting customer needs in the Branch Network. Two years later he applied internally to become a project management apprentice, which saw him complete a Higher Diploma Level 4 Apprenticeship in Project Management. This in turn led to promotion and his current role. David is an ambitious young person and when he first joined his current department he was assigned a ‘buddy’, who is in effect a mentor tasked with helping a less experience staff member find their feet, as he explains: “My buddy helped me become familiar with the team, what everyone does and the key differences between working in branch
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and working for the bank’s head office function. Over time, as well as having a buddy, my professional network grew. I met people and developed mentoring relationships with individuals who I could ask about how they got to where they were and whether they could help me through this learning period in my professional life.” Working through decisions with these casual mentors, David grew his own experience, confidence and knowledge. He began to wonder whether he could in turn offer some support to a mentee of his own. He started out by guiding those coming through the apprentice route behind him: “When I completed my own apprenticeship I became an Apprentice Ambassador, mentoring junior colleagues and apprentices, and sharing my experiences with them.” David found he enjoyed this role as he mentored new staff on everything from time management to public speaking. He says: “It was fascinating and I have always enjoyed working with different people. A year into this mentoring role I decided to push myself a bit further, which is when one of my own mentors suggested that I do the IOEE’s enterprise mentor training, which was very comprehensive and helped me develop a number of key skills, including listening and communication skills.”
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Having completed the IOEE’s day-long Level 3 Award in Enterprise Mentoring course in London, David began working with Paul Harper, his IOEE mentoring manager. Soon, Paul had matched David with his first mentee – Barbara Govan who has been running the award winning independent TV production and training company for a quarter of a century. David and Barbara had their first meeting in a café-bar called The Reliance in Leeds just four weeks after his enterprise mentor training was completed, using this time to get to know each other. David says: “Barbara had had a mentor previously who had moved away so she was looking to continue that support with someone new.” Barbara’s company, www.screenhouse.co.uk, has made a number of documentaries for mainstream television, with the company currently focusing their factual TV production on one of the nation’s most popular primetime topical news shows. When the pair met, Screenhouse was going through a period of flux, as David explains: “Barbara was looking for someone to talk things through with and share ideas with. Her company has been going through some significant changes, taking on different types of work. Over time, the mentoring will help refocus and reprioritise. I have minimal knowledge of Barbara’s work or industry, so in early discussions I had to really pause and think about how I could start to guide her to get the most from her skills and current situation. Enterprise
A year into this mentoring role I decided to push myself a bit further, which is when one of my own mentors suggested that I do the IOEE’s enterprise mentor training, which was very comprehensive and helped me develop a number of key skills, including listening and communication skills.”
mentoring is very different from my in-work mentoring where I can say ‘I once did x and it worked.’ My early Enterprise Mentoring experience with Barbara has given me an entirely different view of things.” Moving forward, David and Barbara intend to meet up every month with short calls and email correspondence to stay in touch in between face-to-face sessions. Together, they plan to identify new areas to explore, and push Screenhouse into new territory, refreshing the direction in which the business may go whilst exploring Digital avenues. David says: “It’s a very well-established business with lots of work coming in but this is a time of change and I will utilise my role as Enterprise Mentor to help with that. This experience has made me want to do more mentoring. At work I currently have two apprentice mentees and one non-apprentice mentee. With my Enterprise Mentoring I would like to establish two or three mentoring relationships over the coming months both because it’s fascinating and because I’d like to stretch my own personal abilities beyond my everyday professional life.”
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