Think Enterprise January 2017 (Issue 4)

Think Enterprise Publication | January Edition

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IOEE CAMPUS

THE NEW SOCIAL LEARNING PLATFORM

NEW IOEE

ENTERPRISE ACADEMY

NEW COLLEGE DURHAM

NEW QUALIFICATIONS PASSPORT TO ENTERPRISE AND EMPLOYMENT

Vol. 4

MAGAZINE January Edition Vol. 4

CONTAC T US 53 Coniscliffe Road Darlington DL3 7EH 0845 467 4928 newsletter@ioee.uk ioee.uk

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SARAH TROUTEN, IOEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Happy New Year! Welcome to our very first edition of Think Enterprise 2017, and if by now your resolutions have slipped (mine certainly have!) then I hope to reinvigorate you with some good news stories.

Let’s begin with the news that the self employed are reported to be the happiest workers in the UK, something our monthly blog writer Clare Talbot-Jones re-iterates in this months piece “If it makes you happy” and I certainly agree with her wise words “If it makes you unhappy do something about it”. We also hear about IOEE Mentor, Carl Beardon who won Small Business Mentor of the Year at the IAB Awards last month, I’d like to congratulate Carl on this great achievement.

I’m proud to announce that February will see the launch of our new online campus.

The campus has been designed and developed in response to feedback from you and over the coming months even more resources and features will be added, all designed to help you and your business survive and thrive. I hope you love it as much as we do!

Watch out for the launch announcement.

I would like to wish you a very happy and prosperous 2017 and look forward to supporting you throughout.

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Content 08 North-East Academy fully embraces enterprise learning

10 SFEDI business mentor scoops IAB Award The IAB UK and International Business and Skills Awards took place on 8th December in a prestigious House of Commons setting. In addition to being a primary sponsor of the event, SFEDI has extra reason to celebrate as Carl Beardon, one of our dedicated business mentors, was named Small Business Mentor of the Year.

12 Interested in finding out how mentoring can help your business?

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13 New Year, New Opportunities, New You!

14 SFEDI Awards launches it’s Passport to Enterprise and Employment

16 Spotlight On ... an enterprising learner

18 Spotlight On ...

Karen Waite This month the spotlight is on Karen Waite, who runs Leap Like a Salmon, an online system for the capture, management and sharing of professional development information.

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21 Business Resilience and how to achieve it

22 If it makes you happy!

Richard and Clare Talbot-Jones, who run Talbot Jones Risk Solutions, are based in Felling, Gateshead. In this, the first blog of 2017, Clare explains why moving from employment to self-employment has seen the couple’s happiness rocket!

24 Mentoring apprentices in a small business

26 “Business start-up, enterprise and sustainability are major priorities for every business in every sector.�

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28 Enterprising success for Robert Lundgren Jones Robert Lundgren Jones is a second year student at Northumbria University in Newcastle. In November he attended the IOEE’s Celebrating Enterprise Awards in the House of Lords as a nominee in the category of Enterprising Learner of the Year. Although the ambitious student didn’t win the title this year, he’s certainly enjoying impressive success as a young entrepreneur.

30 Students make a drama of enterprise learning

32 Are you a business and enterprise support professional?

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North-East IOEE Academy fully embraces enterprise learning For several years, New College Durham has been working towards putting enterprise learning firmly at the heart of its educational offer. Steven Bell, Head of School for Sport Business Public Services and IT at the college, talked to us about this process and about the organisation’s developing relationship with the IOEE.

last year the college began to work in partnership with the IOEE, adopting our Award in Creativity and Innovation as part of its own offer. In fact, New College Durham piloted this IOEE / TONI&GUY programme with some of its business students. This was a success and the result is a comprehensive, considered and flexible enterprise module that can be used to enhance any learning programme.

Now, the IOEE / TONI&GUY programme has been embraced by the college’s hairdressing department, encouraging students to develop their enterprise skills alongside their styling ones. Steven says:

New College Durham, located in the city of Durham, is a Mixed Economy Group College, which means it is one of a group of Further Education colleges that also have ‘a significant, established, strategic and developmental role in the provision of Higher Education.’

Students have access to a real mix of programmes, covering Further and Higher Education courses, full and part-time study and apprenticeships at the college, which Ofsted rates as ‘Outstanding.’

New College Durham also holds Beacon status, which means other institutions come to it to access best practice advice and guidance.

Steven Bell is one of a team of staff at the college who have been instrumental in promoting and furthering entrepreneurial learning across subjects and learning levels. He recalls how the process began: “We initially brought the concept of enterprise innovation into the college via our Higher Education offer a few years ago and it has been developing over time. Back then, we were looking at meeting regional demand and growth, taking LEP priorities into consideration as we did so. Around that time, we were approached by Business Durham, the economic development company for County Durham.”

Initially, the college developed an Innovation and Enterprise unit with Business Durham to sit on its Foundation Degree. Having caught the enterprise bug and already observing its positive impact,

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“In fact, the IOEE/TONI&GUY programme fits across the entire college. When, for example, hairdressing students complete that unit they get accreditation from the IOEE as well as getting their hairdressing qualification from us. We’re also currently looking at developing a Level 6 unit to sit in one of our top-up degrees with the Open University, which is something we will potentially work with the IOEE on.”

Steven and his colleagues very much want to promote a rich culture of enterprise and innovation throughout the whole of New College Durham, which, he explains, is why the organisation’s IOEE Academy status is so important in sending the right message to potential learners, local employers and the business community: “Being an IOEE Academy is partly about the status it affords us as a learning institution. However, it’s also important because enterprise learning is a growth area in our region – demand for this sort of study is increasing. In tandem with this, we’re working with the business arm of Durham County Council, liaising with their business and start-up hub. SME employers here can see that we take enterprise skills very seriously.”

Steven is also keen to point out how relevant and useful enterprise skills can be in unexpected subject areas. For example, the college is currently in the process of developing a Firefighter apprenticeship, working with Durham and Darlington County Fire Service. The IOEE’s Innovation and Creativity programme, Steven explains, has been added to the apprenticeship standard because the skills the fire service was looking for in future recruits corresponded with many of those taught on the award. He says:

New College Durham

“Working with the IOEE has helped us to think about innovation, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship more holistically. We began with this module with the idea that we would simply phase it in but it’s now become a lot more than that.”

One of the initiatives inspired in part by the college’s work with the IOEE, is a plan that will put local enterprise and enterprise learning right at the heart of New College Durham’s offer. A new Business Scale-up Centre is set to open over the next few months. Steven explains what this means: “Working primarily with local small to medium employers, the Business Scale-up Centre will set our business students real-world business problems. The students will co-ordinate the solving of issues that external businesses bring to us. For example, they might brief graphic design or IT students to undertake projects, coming up with innovative business solutions.”

As well as forging valuable links with the local business community,

projects like this encourage students to think laterally and creatively while simultaneously gaining experience of complex, real-world business issues.

Like many in the Further and Higher Education sectors, Steven acknowledges that right now enterprise in education is enjoying something of a renaissance as employers and learners alike demand fresh learning routes that will deliver real world skills.

“This sort of entrepreneurial teaching has been touched upon in the past but it’s never really been so coordinated on a national level, as well as a regional one. It’s certainly being taken more seriously. There used to be the idea that the only people who needed entrepreneurial skills were the one-man bands, someone starting their own business. Now it’s been recognised that those skills are essential for all sorts of people, whether they’re working inside businesses as employees, setting out to start up their own enterprise or looking to develop someone else’s.”

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SFEDI business mentor scoops IAB award The IAB UK and International Business and Skills Awards took place on 8th December in a prestigious House of Commons setting. In addition to being a primary sponsor of the event, SFEDI has extra reason to celebrate as Carl Beardon, one of our dedicated business mentors, was named Small Business Mentor of the Year.

Tim Rivett (on the right), presented Carl Beardon with the IAB Small Business Mentor of the Year

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The IAB is a not-for-profit organisation for professional bookkeepers that connects some 10,000 members from across 60 countries.

Regulated by Ofqual, the IAB sets world-class standards in bookkeeping and acts as a beacon of best practice for the industry.

Bringing together the great and the good from the world of bookkeeping, the IAB UK and International Business and Skills Awards provide the chance for the IAB to recognise those who have made an outstanding contribution in their field over the last year.

This year the event, hosted by IAB president Fabian Hamilton MP, celebrated the work of the organisation, as well as its professional members, students and dedicated enterprise centres, which are located all around the world. The individuals attending the awards came from various walks of life – as well as bookkeepers and payroll professionals, there were accountants, apprentices and, of course, enterprise mentors all interacting with one another. Those who received accolades at the event included Alison Edward, who was named Bookkeeper of the Year, an award sponsored by long-time IOEE partner Lloyds Bank. Meanwhile, the title of Accountant of the Year (which is sponsored by FA Simms & Partners, plus AMLCC) was bestowed upon Natasha Penny. However, the award we were most excited about was that of Small Business Mentor of the Year, which went to Carl Beardon who was nominated by our very own Mentor Manager Christine Dryden. Carl has been providing enterprise mentoring since 2011 and was a very worthy recipient of the IAB honour. Asked what it is that keeps him mentoring, Carl said:

receive it. I also feel very lucky to have had great support over the years from Christine Dryden, and to have been matched with high caliber mentees. It really has been a team effort over the years.”

To find out more about the IAB visit the organisation’s website.

Carl Beardon, Christine Dryden and Gaurav Singhal on the terrace at the IAB Awards event.

“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.”

I was pleasantly surprised to hear I had been shortlisted for the award, as I was not aware I had been nominated. I honestly didn’t think I would win given the other great examples of mentoring in the area. I am really proud to have been presented with the award at the House of Commons - what a brilliant setting in which to

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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 Christine Dryden christine.dryden@ioee.uk or 07720 681591 if you are based in the West Midlands or Central London, and contact Paul Harper paul.harper@ioee.uk or 07715 905638 for the North East or Yorkshire. * 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

CAMPUS

New Year, New Opportunities, New You As we welcome in a new year, like thousands of others across the UK, you may be considering self-employment as a fresh route to explore. However, simply wanting to work for yourself isn’t always enough to achieve success. To help you out, we’ve created the online IOEE Campus, which is home to new learning content that will really boost your enterprising skills and help you enjoy a smoother road to starting up your own business.

those working for themselves were around 4.20. In essence, business owners were shown to be around 17% more happy than the average worker.

Self-employment is big news. Between 2008 and 2015, Government statistics show that self-employment increased from 3.8 million people to 4.6 million. The rise can be accounted for across industries and both part and full-time workers are making the leap to independent working. It’s easy to see why; working for yourself can deliver all sorts of lifestyle and financial benefits.

From the convenience of creating your own balance between family responsibilities and work commitments, to the creative freedom to steer your business as you see fit, self-employment certainly has its advantages. However, perhaps the most important factor influencing the exodus from employment to self-employment is sheer happiness levels. Research conducted recently by Office Genie has shown that those who own their own businesses are the UK workforce’s happiest members. Office workers from across Britain were asked to rate their happiness on a 1-5 scale. While average happiness levels hit around 3.63, happiness levels amongst

The IOEE Campus, launching in early February, is an online resource that can help aspiring business owners and more seasoned entrepreneurs alike take on the world of enterprise with confidence.

The social learning platform is a hub of support, resources and learning that covers every aspect of starting out in business. As well as gaining access to a dedicated Business Plan Builder to create their own enterprise outlines step-by-step, users will be able to share ideas, practical knowhow and inspiration thanks to the Q&A functionality. Additionally, the IOEE Campus is home to a number of fantastic short courses, including an accredited distance learning offer, with more to come.

So, if you want to go it alone and turn your skills into an independent business or social enterprise, how can you boost your chances of success? Here at the IOEE we have the perfect answer.

To find out more about membership levels and to join the IOEE, visit us at ioee.uk

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SFEDI Awards launches its

Passport to Enterprise and Employment 14 | Think Enterprise

The SFEDI Awards Passport to Enterprise and Employment is a fantastic new Level 1 qualification designed to offer individuals real flexibility as they improve their social development, self-employment and employability skills.

We spoke to Nic Preston, SFEDI Awards’s Head of Quality, about the carefully designed, comprehensive qualification.

Over the past few months, enterprise educators have been beginning to teach the new SFEDI Awards Passport to Enterprise and Employment, which takes as its starting point both the IOEE National Enterprise Standards and the European wide Entrecomp: The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework. Nic Preston, one of the team behind the new qualification spoke to us about it and how it presents a broad array of personal, social, employability and self-employment skills as a ‘pick and mix’ selection that learning institutions can tailor to their own specific requirements. He said: “What we’re doing is presenting learning providers with a wide-ranging, comprehensive qualification. From that, they can choose the most appropriate combination of units to meet the needs of their own specific learners. This is one of the most flexible personal, social and employment qualifications on the market.”

In fact, the SFEDI Awards Passport to Enterpise and Employment qualification is so flexible that it’s technically possible for several learners on the same programme to all, as individuals, study slightly different variations of the course. However, whichever units learners select, the numerous elements of the qualification are designed to complement one another, helping learners to develop enterprising characteristics, fine-tune their emotional intelligence, make a better contribution to society as good citizens, improve their

“

Being enterprising in this context doesn’t necessarily mean becoming self-employed.

It could mean becoming more creative or a better problem solver, or better at spotting interesting opportunities.”

prospects as employees, and seriously consider the factors involved in self-employment. The qualification has just one mandatory unit – Developing an Enterprising Character; every other unit follows on from the core proposition that individuals can become more enterprising. Nic says: “Being enterprising in this context doesn’t necessarily mean becoming self-employed. It could mean becoming more creative or a better problem solver, or better at spotting interesting opportunities.”

Having completed this one mandatory unit, learners go on to make up their qualification by selecting from further units, of which there are 54 in total. These are split into three umbrella categories. The first is Personal and Social Development, which includes units such as Communication Skills, Completing Voluntary Work and Equality and Diversity. As Nic explains, a significant part of the qualification’s remit is to help trainers imbue their learners with good citizenship skills. He says: “The qualification is the first of its type and it was developed in response to a new European wide framework that has the objective of creating better citizens. The thinking is that if you’re a better citizen you can make a better contribution to society, either by becoming a self-employed person or by investing in your community. That’s why part of the qualification asks learners, ‘as a citizen, how can you get involved, how can you play your part, how can you be a better person in this society?’”

The second umbrella category from which learners select units is Employability, which includes a number of practical units, for example Presenting Yourself For Work, Understanding Your Customers, ICT For Employment and Food Safety. Finally, there’s the Self-Employment category. In this category learners are invited to choose from units like Understand Opportunities and Risks Within Business, and Principles of Social Media for Business Use. Teaching of the SFEDI Awards Passport to Enterprise and Employment takes place through discussion, practical activities and self-reflection in a group scenario. Assessments too are primarily a practical undertaking.

If you’d like to find out more about the SFEDI Awards Passport to Enterprise and Employment, get in touch with SFEDI Awards at customerservices@sfediawards.com

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Spotlight On...

an enterprising learner Each month we will be showcasing case studies on enterprise in education.

This month we spoke to third year undergraduate, Rodrigo de Carvalho, who is studying product design at London South Bank University while he establishes a social enterprise dedicated to helping protect children at risk of abduction.

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Rodrigo de Carvalho, 33-year-old Brazilian student moved to the UK in to study English a decade ago and spent some time working in events management and hospitality. However, in 2015 he decided to follow his passion and enrolled to study at LSBU. He says: “My course, Product Design, is very broad covering everything from manufacturing and graphics to design thinking, coding and 3D… That gives me a lot of options after I graduate, although I am already moving towards app development and using design thinking to work on the user experience.”

Last year, Rodrigo and others on his course received a university brief that asked them to create ‘social change by design.’ In response, he has established social enterprise the Kindogo Project, an idea originally triggered when Rodrigo entered the Design Factory competition run by the Design Museum. He says: “The university’s brief asked us to go to the Design of the Year exhibition at the Design Museum where most of the exhibits were about social change projects. As students we were each asked to select one of those projects as inspiration, developing work already done or solving new problems related to the issue.”

The project/exhibit Rodrigo had chosen at the Design Museum was a sanitation product designed for use in the developing world and was already very well designed. For this reason, the student kept the developing world as his starting point but took a little extra inspiration from a friend. He says: “I decided to speak to a friend of mine who has a charity in Uganda called Kannana Interactive. He told me about some of the issues faced by children in Africa. Of course these are all over the news but I wanted to hear from him as he has the direct experience there. Of the many issues he mentioned, the one I connected with was about protecting children from abduction because I felt that there hasn’t been a major fight against this issue.”

Having heard about the plight of children under threat of kidnapping by terrorist organisations in Uganda, Rodrigo applied his product design skills to creating the Kindogo. The product began life as a simple low cost GPS tracking device built into a watch-like accessory which would allow the authorities to track children who had been abducted.

“I considered how GPS could help reduce the problem. Initially I thought the product could be given to the children as a watch with a solar panel, a GPS and nothing else.”

This relatively simple idea so impressed judges of the national Design Factory competition that Rodrigo was one of the 14 regional winners. However, he also received some great feedback on the design from one of the directors of the Design Museum. Rodrigo remembers what he said:

“The feedback pointed out that if you give a watch to a Ugandan child it’s not something familiar to the culture there. It will draw attention. Also, the original product had triggered a signal of danger if the watch strap was broken but children play and the strap could be broken accidently. The director prompted me to rethink these parts of the product’s design.”

In order to remedy the flaws in his design, Rodrigo undertook extra research and began to consult with professors in chemical engineering and telecommunications. Right now, the product is in a fresh prototype stage.

Having enjoyed such success with this ongoing project via the Design Museum’s competition, and keen to develop his idea, Rodrigo has accessed a number of LSBU enterprise schemes, all designed to encourage entrepreneurial activity. During the last academic year, he completed an optional, two-week enterprise module called ‘Bootcamp - How to develop my idea’ in order to apply business thinking to his unique product design idea. Most recently, he has joined LSBU’s six-month long Spark Programme, which is taught in weekly sessions. He says: “The Spark programme has helped me to go more in-depth to develop my business and myself. It takes you through the stages of putting a business together and I’m learning a lot about how to create a business model, how to give your idea purpose, how to conduct market research and how to develop your product.”

Like many of the students who join the university’s Spark Programme, Rodrigo has also decided to try his hand at Pitch It. This LSBU initiative invites entrepreneurial students and recent graduates to present their ideas in order to secure a pot of money which they can then invest into their fledgling businesses or social enterprises.

However, for Rodrigo one of the most rewarding aspects of the Spark Programme and Pitch It has been the way they bring together similarly minded, enterprising students. He says: “What I like is the dynamic of the group and the way we can support each other as we build enterprises. One example of this is a girl who was brainstorming her branding. She put her logo choices up and people were helping, commenting on which would work. When you have a product Spark helps you get it ready to go to market.”

In fact, Rodrigo seems more than ready to introduce his design to the world and his hopes for the future are already taking shape: “Hopefully the Kindogo Project will be a success. I have contact with organisations like UNICEF and the UN so once the final product is developed I will already be in a position to take it forward once I’ve graduated in June 2018. Until then I’m really enjoying studying at LSBU and I’m getting great support as a student entrepreneur.”

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Spotlight On ...

Karen Waite The IOEE’s member base is incredibly diverse, with people from all walks of life signed-up to enjoy the privilege, services and benefits associated with it. To let you know just how broad a spectrum of people we work with, we’ve created Spotlight On… which, every month introduces you to an IOEE member with an interesting story to tell. This month the spotlight is on Karen Waite, who runs Leap Like a Salmon, an online system for the capture, management and sharing of professional development information.

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Business innovator and owner, CIPD Fellow, teacher and university professional Karen Waite has a lot to occupy her time but all of it is linked to her passion – professional development.

Officially, Karen’s online professional development business Leap like a Salmon has been trading since 2010. However, over the last seven years the product has been continually developed, ever improving to meet the needs and demands of its exacting user-base. She says: “Because it’s such a high professional level that I’m dealing with there were several tweaks with the technology to make sure it was fit for purpose. Really, it’s over the last three years that the enterprise has taken off. In essence, it’s an online, secure portfolio that enables people to manage their professional development and the market area is SMEs, particularly across sectors that are required to participate in CPD (Continuing Professional Development), like accountants and solicitors – although not exclusively because people who are very pro-development or want to manage their employees as a whole in one area can use it as well.”

In tandem with her work on Leap like a Salmon, Karen is a Lead External Quality Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), managing a team of 9 people covering the North, Ireland and international regions. Karen also holds a senior management position at the University of Bradford where she’s been an associate for around a decade. She’s module leader on the university’s MBA and teaches the Managerial and Professional Development module in Dubai. She says: “My university work links really nicely with the work I do within the company and with the students, as the university use the system for some project work. In fact, the university was where the initial idea for Leap like a Salmon came from. Around eight years ago the university was using a portfolio system for the

business learning students that was clunky and difficult to use. I recognised there was a gap in the market for a system that was a lot more dynamic, more engaging and more learner centred. Plus, I saw that it should be connected to a digital platform because people were increasingly looking for a social media element.”

Having spotted the need for a new service, Karen set about commissioning research into her market and the opportunity. Ultimately, the system itself was built by Sheffield Hallam University’s Innovation Hub and was one of the last enterprises to receive money from the now defunct BusinessLink Innovation Fund.

In February 2015, Karen attended the Meet a Mentor event in Leeds in the hope of finding a mentor with expertise in marketing, who could make her think about her business goals.

On the day Karen was introduced to IOEE’s Mentor Manager, Paul Harper, who specialises in matching trained volunteer mentors from the banking industry with small and micro business owners. Throughout the last two years, Paul has continued to support Karen through regular telephone calls and emails following up on her progress. In November, they met up at the Entrepreneurial Spark offices in Leeds. Karen said: “I had a really good meeting with Paul, he asked me what I was doing and how I was moving my business forward. Meeting with him was a good opportunity to reflect and challenge myself again, discussing what has happened and focusing on where I need to go now and what sort of support I need going forward.”

As she’s built Leap like a Salmon, Karen has received support and guidance from business accelerator and start-up programme Entrepreneurial Spark (E-Spark) and she has a base in the organisation’s Leeds offices. The programme is funded by NatWest and KPMG Enterprise. She says:

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“I started E-Spark in February 2016 and being part of it is almost like having your own board of directors. It’s so positive and it focusses you.

It just gives you that bit more commitment and you do progress, making connections that you wouldn’t normally. At the E-Spark base there are three floors of desks spaces and creative spaces, it’s been a very open collaborative place to work. And I aim to get in there as much as I can. Actually, being part of E-spark gives you more profile than you might appreciate at the time.”

E-Spark participants, as well as benefiting from the workspace itself, also enjoy networking and mentoring opportunities, plus regular meetings with dedicated advisors where they can discuss specific business objectives.

Karen currently has lots of exciting new projects in the pipeline. Towards the end of 2016 she began meetings with retailer John Lewis to discuss Leap Like a Salmon’s use of a dedicated ‘community room.’ Ostensibly designed for community groups to get together and learn new skills such as haberdashery techniques, Karen saw that the room could also be ideal as a personal development space. She says: “This is a venue that people can use to gain insight and knowledge. I put to John Lewis that I could be there as a support for the community and run an ‘Ask the expert’ on personal development. This is a service I offer on my website already and it’s been agreed that it will be happening from February.

There’ll be an open-door policy, and it’s free to attend. If people have a question about their development or career, they can come along to Leeds John Lewis.”

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Working along similar lines to the ‘Ask the expert’ section on Leap like a Salmon’s website, these community drop-in sessions will be open to absolutely anyone. Users who feel stuck in a role and are seeking a career change, the unemployed and students, those going through forced or voluntary redundancy or anyone simply looking for a new steer on personal development… all will be welcomed. With time, Karen hopes that these real-world advice sessions will become a regular calendar feature and an invaluable community resource. This, in addition to the fact that she is currently making important headway with two major Leap like a Salmon clients, means 2017 is certainly shaping up to be a busy and productive year.

The entrepreneur, who currently works with a small team, is also planning something of a recruitment drive: “Although I obviously have a lot of people supporting me, this year I will need more marketing, digital and administration support so I’m looking at taking two people on. Other plans in the pipeline this year include increasing my turnover by at least 20% and making sure that I continue to network and develop the relationships I developed with E-Spark to give me the opportunity to move the business even further forward into new markets.”

Business Resilience and how to achieve it Is it possible to help start-ups and other small business clients boost the resilience of their fledgling enterprises? The IOEE certainly believes it is and we’ve created a qualification specifically to help enterprise support professionals do just that.

Healthy cash flow, good planning, intelligent marketing and fantastic customer services - these are all the factors people commonly name when they’re asked what makes a business successful. But what about business resilience? Hard to define and even more difficult to attain, business resilience is a frequently misunderstood trait that can mean the difference between lasting enterprise success and falling at the first hurdle. At its core business resilience is the capacity for a business to endure and ‘bounce back’ when circumstances are particularly challenging or curveballs are thrown its way. It is the ability of a business to quickly adapt or change course when either internal or external forces shift. Whether the changes afoot are physical – i.e. premises are flooded or logistics break down – or are concerned with unchartered economic territory – i.e. the as yet unknown impact of Brexit – it’s vital that businesses should have the resilience to weather any storm. Equally, start-ups and SMEs have a much stronger starting point when they’re prepared to respond to the unexpected events that take place every day, the opportunities, disruptions, demands and threats that give colour to the experience of running an enterprise.

The IOEE’s Level 5 Award in Understanding How to Support Clients Through Their Use of the Business Resilience Healthcheck Tool

(QCF) is designed to equip enterprise support professionals with the learning they need to help their clients develop valuable business resilience.

As well as guiding learners through an exploration of what the term ‘business resilience’ can mean, the qualification teaches them how to support clients to measure their current business resilience levels using the Business Resilience Healthcheck Tool. Those who undertake the qualification will also gain an understanding of how clients can be supported if / when the Business Resilience Healthcheck Tool identifies potential business resilience issues.

Speaking about the qualification, Sarah Trouten CEO at the IOEE, said: “While many new entrepreneurs may feel they have all bases covered with funding and market research, staffing and communications, the concept of business resilience is often overlooked. This qualification is designed specifically to optimise the impact of the Business Resilience Healthcheck Tool, helping business advisors and supporters to give their clients exactly the guidance they need to become resilient and run tougher, more adaptable and better prepared businesses.”

The Level 5 Award in Understanding How to Support Clients Through Their Use of the Business Resilience Healthcheck Tool (QCF) is taught at IOEE Academies and Centres. To find out more about studying for the qualification, email info@ioee.uk

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WRITTEN BY CLARE TALBOT-JONES

If it makes you happy!

Richard and Clare Talbot-Jones, who run Talbot Jones Risk Solutions, are based in Felling, Gateshead. In this, the first blog of 2017, Clare explains why moving from employment to self-employment has seen the couple’s happiness rocket!

For years, my husband would often wrap his arms around my sagging shoulders at the end of my long working day, and murmur the same refrain: “If it makes you unhappy, stop doing it.”

“I can’t! It’s not that simple!” was always my indignant response - I was doing an important job that I had trained for and performed successfully. I couldn’t just “give up”! Working in a profession that is famed for a heavy workload, high levels of stress and an impossibly skewed work/life balance, I believed that I didn’t have any other option. Determination and perseverance were qualities I greatly valued and always hoped to model.

Eventually the pressures (many imposed by myself) became so heavy and burdensome that I became ill. My misery was impacting my performance and my family. Something had to change.

In hindsight, this time of mental illness was a blessing - it forced me to evaluate my priorities and values. One evening, when Richard advocated again with sad and concerned eyes “if it makes you unhappy, stop doing it”, I realised with lucidity that he was right- it was time to hold my hands up and let go. It was a humbling but empowering experience.

On 1st February we celebrate the 1st anniversary of Talbot Jones Risk Solution. Despite the risks, obstacles, fears, sacrifices, threats, worries, stresses and challenges, we have had the happiest year of our life. Think Enterprise asked us to consider why.

On reflection, much of our happiness comes from doing: …what we want We want a solid, reputable, respected, profitable business that allows us to support our family. Seeing what we have achieved over this last year, and knowing we’ve built it ourselves is supremely satisfying. My self-confidence, respect and esteem have returned, and I feel very proud of us and our boldness, resilience, adaptability and achievements. It feels great to feel good!

We have a simple plan that reflects the financial milestones we need to achieve in the short, mid and long term in order to maintain a happy work/life balance. This gives us focus and a strategic goal to work towards as well as a practical framework in which to implement our creative and daring ideas.

You can find out more about Clare and Richard’s journey into selfemployment here.

…the way we want We don’t have a work persona of grey suits and grey words. Our ‘brand’ is a reflection of who we are and what we value. We wear what we’re comfortable in, we talk naturally, openly and honestly. We don’t have to toe any lines or put on a work mask.

We are who we are, and that feel very refreshing.

The Office Genie statistics that business owners are 17% happier than the average worker don’t surprise me at all. Moving from employment to self-employment has seen our happiness rocket, and I can see it among my contemporaries too.

…with who we want We love working with small business and charities, especially start-ups. This is where we can add most value to our clients- good quality risk management advice from the outset offers firm foundations and security, and getting the right cover at

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the right price can be make-or-break. It’s not the most lucrative corner of the market, but it’s one we get very excited about- so that’s where we choose to focus our efforts, without any middle managers breathing down our necks to go out hunting for Cash Cows.

Building a strong business is important to us, so we do it steadily and with consideration. If a piece of business doesn’t fit out areas of expertise, we signpost them to a broker who is a better fit, rather than take the money and do a simply adequate job. We work with people we like and trust. We support them and they support us.

This means we have positive working relationships with those in our circle- and everyone’s happy!

coming up with solutions to complicated insurance conundrums, but it impacts all areas of our work. We have a lot of ideas and enthusiasm. Working for ourselves means that we don’t need to explain or justify our decisions to anyone- which means we’re really convicted about the decisions we do make and we can keep momentum and enthusiasm.

We have found a very favourable balance where we don’t live to work, but nor do we work to live either. We do what we love, when we want, how we want, with whom we want and it has brought us a lot of satisfaction, peace, joy, contentment and fulfilment. And we are HAPPY!

…when we want We work LONG hours. We meet clients and take their calls in the evenings and weekends, and, even when on holiday, Richard will log onto our system and do an hour or two a day to keep on top of urgent tasks. But, if it’s a sunny day and we have a free diary, we’re able to up sticks and take the kids rockpooling at the beach for an hour after school, or see their glowing faces as they spot us in the crowd at the nativity service.

Our disposable culture has conditioned us to often discard or give up on things without thought, and this can bring a lot of disappointment and unhappiness too. Careful consideration, reflection, analysis, action and adaptation are required when we meet with a problem or challenge. Sometimes we must be ready to change our strategy to keep successfully pursuing the same goal.

Sometimes it’s right to let go.

…for ourselves Although we were offered funding to launch an insurance brokerage from 4 or 5 different sources over the years, we decided to self-fund, and just really tighten our belts. The sacrifices are well worth it. We don’t have to answer to anyone and we’re not gambling anyone else’s fortunes- this gives us more confidence and assertiveness, and allows us to go to sleep at night with a clear conscience and no worries.

What’s my one piece of advice to you? If it makes you unhappy, do something about it.

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One of our strengths is creative thinking- this comes in very useful

Think Enterprise | 23

Mentoring apprentices in a small business

Apprenticemakers is SFEDI’s support project for businesses interested in apprenticeships. The project has recently launched a ‘Developing Mentoring Skills To Support Apprentices’ course for apprentice employers of all sizes. Here Apprenticemakers talks about how mentoring can support an apprentice in a small business and the areas to consider if you’re interested in doing so.

Recruiting an apprentice in a small business can be a great opportunity. The right apprentice will quickly add value as an extra pair of hands, and once they’re into their apprenticeship learning, they bring their new-found knowledge to the business too. It’s often not long before businesses start to wonder how they managed before their enthusiastic apprentice joined the team.

However, as with all positive changes to a business there is an investment to make. Financially it’s relatively small compared to recruiting another employee (an apprentice’s wage starts at £3.40 an hour), and the funding for training is particularly generous for SMEs, with often 100% of the training costs covered*.

‘Support’ is next in line in the investment stakes, and often that’s the area businesses struggle with most due to lack of time and resources. However, if a business can get that right, it can be what really make a difference to the contribution an apprentice makes, and how soon they make it.

So what’s the best way to offer that support? Especially when time is tight for small business owners.

Well firstly, if the business finds the right training provider, (ideas of how to do this on Apprenticemakers), much of the battle will be won. A good training provider will help both the apprentice and the business with the apprenticeship requirements in those crucial early stages, and will be an ongoing source of support throughout the apprenticeship too.

Secondly, the business can consider ways to offer mentoring support to the apprentice. Even making the decision to support with mentoring is a positive one, it shows that the business cares how the apprentice feels, and wants to support them to achieve their work and learning goals.

So how can a business owner, with many pressures of their own, plan mentoring support that really adds value to the apprenticeship?

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Here are a few areas to consider if you’re interested in offering mentoring support in a meaningful and measurable way.

1. Decide what you want to achieve At its simplest, mentoring provides an opportunity for an individual to be listened to by a trusted ally. However, even though mentoring requires soft skills, it doesn’t mean that a mentoring programme shouldn’t have tangible goals that can help you look back in 6 months and make a judgement on whether it’s been a worthwhile exercise. So before embarking on a mentoring activity in your business, decide why you’re doing it and what success might look like.

Some ideas for measuring success might be: • •

Improved retention rates – have you had apprentices before that have left the business? Measure if mentoring improves retention of new apprentices Speed at which the apprentice can undertake key activities – is it important for the apprentice to be able to achieve certain tasks to add value to the business? How quickly can these be achieved, has the mentoring supported this?

2. Decide who should do the mentoring Many businesses are just too small for there to be anyone else other than the business owner available to mentor an incoming apprentice. However, it’s worth identifying whether that really is the only option. Could an ex-apprentice, now employee, develop mentoring skills and support them? Or is there someone that is experienced, but not working directly with the apprentice that could take this role? Delegating the role can not only be a useful stepping stone to developing management skills but it can help to free the business owner up too. Mentoring support, if done right, can be a mutually beneficial learning experience, so it’s a great way to boost morale and skills throughout.

If, however it is only you, as the business owner, that can do the mentoring, consider how you will conduct this role in relation to your other roles as line manager and director. A good mentoring relationship is based on trust and openness, so if you are able to maintain the trust in all interactions with the apprentice, leading the way when required, but also supporting and listening when

necessary too, it could be possible to wear both hats.

3. Develop the mentoring skills that matter One of the most valuable assets in a small business is an employee with the initiative and resourcefulness to solve daily issues. Great mentoring is about helping to bring out the apprentice’s inner resourcefulness and supporting them as they become accountable for their role and career.

It very useful for the mentor to have personal and professional experience and knowledge to draw on, however most important of all are listening and questioning skills which can help the apprentice devise new or more effective ways to approach problems and challenges. A mentor can help the apprentice reflect on recent work challenges and consider the learning outcomes and goals that came out of it which may help them approach things differently next time.

Great questions to ask to develop resourcefulness are, “if you had to find a way, what would it be?’, and ‘what would you do if you couldn’t fail?’. Asking these in a mentoring session can be incredibly empowering for the apprentice.

4. Gather some templates to support the mentoring Even if it’s a small mentoring scheme, create some structure around it to clarify its purpose and record the outcomes. This ensures that both parties take it seriously and prevents mentoring meetings slipping into a ‘quick catch up’ that is more tactical than long term.

Useful documents to put in place include:

• •

•

A mentoring ‘code of conduct’ - which helps both parties understand the boundaries of the role in terms of confidentiality, knowledge and expectations.

A Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Plan – this can help both the mentor and apprentice consider and record their own development needs and plan how they will address them.

It asks questions such as; What do you need to learn? What impact will this have? How will you learn it?

A mentoring session sheet – to record the outcomes of the meeting discussion and actions. Filing these together can be a great way to record the apprentice’s progress and assess if the mentoring programme has achieved its goals.

5. Get more ideas and support for your mentoring programme Apprenticemakers is running a free webinar on the 16th February for businesses interested in learning more about mentoring skills to support apprentices. Apprenticemakers also runs a one day mentor training course. *Training is currently funded from 50-100% depending on the apprentice’s age and the apprenticeship. Apprenticeships funding is changing from May 2017 with still high level of support for SMEs. To learn more about apprenticeships, upcoming funding changes, and how to support apprentices in the workplace, join the Apprenticemakers community for free at www.apprenticemakers. org.uk

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“Business start-up, enterprise and sustainability are major priorities for every business in every sector.�

At the Celebrating Enterprise Awards, held in the House of Lords, the Institute of Supply Chain Management (IOSCM) was named IOEE Innovative Partner of the Year.

This is an award given to an organisation that has forged a strong, productive and, above all, innovative relationship with SFEDI and the IOEE. Kevin Rumfitt, CEO of IOSCM, has written a personal response to the honour of receiving this award.

Ruth Lowbridge MBE, SFEDI Group Executive Chair, presented the award to Kevin Rumfitt, CEO of IOSCM, in the House of Lords.

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WRITTEN BY KEVIN RUMFITT

“I was delighted to receive this award from the IOEE especially in such an amazing location. Business start-up, enterprise and sustainability are major priorities for every business in every sector. The IOEE does an outstanding job in driving these important pillars of business and industry forward. The award was totally unexpected and it’s amazing now when I consider that word – ‘innovation’ – and the great meaning that it has to a business person. The team of experts at IOSCM really do deserve this award for time and time again defying the odds to deliver outstanding products that are flexible, innovative and high quality - three very difficult things to achieve consistently to deadline and to cost. The flexibility comes from the fact that learners have a vast range of certification options to choose from. These cover Supply Chain Purchasing, Manufacturing, Management, Warehousing, Logistics and Transport, plus Import/ Export. It’s up to the students themselves whether they specialise or follow our flexible learning route. The innovation IOSCM offers is born of this flexibility – it means that unlike other study options, with us learners can opt for the training that corresponds to their personality and learning style. We maintain the highest level of quality by inviting SFEDI to assess our services. This ensures that many of the programmes we teach are consistently delivered to Ofqual’s high standards.

Over the past five years particularly, IOSCM has pushed the boundaries of innovation with a policy of inclusiveness for workforce and individual development. The flexible offer that we have provided into the marketplace explains why we have taken the sector by storm, especially this past 24 months, which has seen a huge increase in engagement with a diverse network of organisations and individuals. We have engaged openly with everyone from FTSE 100 and 500 companies collaborating on major projects to students training with us. This is because of the tailored product we supply, which meets both employers’, individuals’ and regulatory bodies’ requirements. These are qualifications that are maintained to make sure they really equip people to perform in the workplace. To achieve this we update our materials on an annual basis. Additionally, if there are significant changes to industry legislation or best practice, we will update our study materials immediately. This means our students always have access to the most up-to-date materials available across the market.

Our qualifications can be tailored to suit individuals who want to follow a traditional, academic study system combined with outstanding flexibility and an amazing support package. Equally, academic students can use research methods and referencing techniques to achieve a qualification. But the thing I am most

The Celebrating Enterprise 2016 Award winners alongside Ruth Lowbridge MBE and Malcolm Trotter, Chair of the SFEDI Advisory Council and CEO of IAB. proud of is being able to take our qualifications to the hardworking workforce at all levels, including to the people who have not had the benefit of a great education but have vast experience and expertise built up in industry. Our experts have developed outstanding systems for these members of the workforce, allowing them to map their past experience and skills onto their current roles to achieve a qualification certification. Our programmes are all regulated by Ofqual and we are providing the full currency of a UK qualification from level 1 to level 6.

Our commitment to quality, innovation and inclusivity is why we have received this award. I believe we provide everyone with a product that they can tailor to suit their own unique needs, their learning style and the pressures they face in life. We deliver to each student a flexible, tailored package of support that allows them to maximise their potential. Our objective is to allow each person to be themselves, and as an individual with all their needs met, allow them to maximise and reach their full potential. It is about providing students with a partnership that gives them confidence. Our dedicated employer liaison experts do the same to meet business needs, providing a service and an expertise to industry that allows businesses to use our qualifications to deliver tangible business benefits. We see ourselves as being here to help individuals and businesses alike to achieve great things.”

Think Enterprise | 27

Enterprising success for Robert Lundgren Jones Robert Lundgren Jones is a second year student at Northumbria University in Newcastle. In November he attended the IOEE’s Celebrating Enterprise Awards in the House of Lords as a nominee in the category of Enterprising Learner of the Year. Although the ambitious student didn’t win the title this year, he’s certainly enjoying impressive success as a young entrepreneur.

who’s an independent oil industry consultant. When I attended the Open Day, I fell in love with the course. The programme provides opportunities for students and lets you work in your own way. It’s very interactive and team-based but it also encourages independent thinking, which is what you need to set up your business.”

Northumbria University’s Entrepreneurial Business Management Programme does indeed present its students with a wide-ranging number of opportunities invaluable to those keen to fulfil their entrepreneurial potential. From providing great contacts and setting up networking events to enlisting coaches to inspire students oneon-one, the university does all it can to enable entrepreneurial activity. The taught and theoretical elements of the course are also very strong and specifically designed to work in tandem with the more practical learning, as Robert explains:

Growing up in rugged Northumberland, 19-year-old Robert had planned to study Business Management and Economics at Durham University. However, having attended Northumbria University’s open day, he says a different kind of future began to appeal: “In school I was quite academic but I had always been inspired by people who had set up their own businesses, including my Dad

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“The academic element of the course is integrated with students’ business activity. Over each year we study four modules. Two of these focus very much on your own entrepreneurial activity, covering topics like business growth, marketing and finance.

Meanwhile the other two modules are reflective, looking, for example, at how you’re improving personally as a future business owner or manager.”

It’s clear from how he speaks about the programme that Robert has really embraced both sides and taken his learnings directly to his own enterprise – Lundgren Tours. Joining the course in September 2015 with no solid business idea yet in place, Robert came up with the notion of a touring company when he interviewed a Northumbrian

From left: Natalia Blagburn, Robert Lundgren Jones, Karen Lundgren Jones and Tim Jones in the House of Lords.

holiday cottage owner as part of his course. He recalls: “She said that although business was going reasonably well, the people staying in her cottages were sometimes a little isolated because Northumberland is very rural and the transport links aren’t the greatest - unless you have a car it can be inaccessible. I had also read articles in local publications in which cottage owners wished there were tours to offers residents.”

Spotting a gap in the market, and realising how much he would enjoy sharing his beautiful home county with visitors, Robert decided to set up a coach touring business. Initially the young student undertook every element of the business’s operations – coordinating and organising the tours, sales & marketing, payments & admin as well as being a tour guide. However, he soon learned that this approach was unsustainable and adapted his business model to make his workload more viable as a long-term commitment.

“Currently, I have one business model with two income streams.

One of these is coordinating bespoke tours for societies, schools and corporate events. The second income stream comes from businesses, monuments and attractions in Northumberland that hire me to be a tour guide, without the coach. I promote their interests as a stand-alone tour guide.”

This capacity to work flexibly and respond to market demand and opportunities marks Robert out as a true entrepreneur – a fact his tutors have been quick to spot. Natalia Blagburn, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Newcastle Business School nominated Robert

for the IOEE Celebrating Enterprise Award. We asked her what had made Robert stand out to her. She said: “Robert simply has an unquenchable thirst for learning, this really makes him stand out as entrepreneurial student. From the start, he embraced every opportunity offered by our Entrepreneurial Business Management programme to fulfil his entrepreneurial potential. Although Lundgren Tours is still in the early days, the company and its founder have already earned credibility and track record amongst Northumberland’s well-established firms in the travel industry. We are very proud of Robert’s achievements and we wish him every success with his venture and his studies.”

So, how does Robert himself feel about the nomination? He says: “It was amazing to be quite honest. When I heard that Natalia had nominated me it was completely out of the blue. She had come on one of my tours and seen how hard I had worked but I was really surprised. To even be recognised as a nominee in this category by the IOEE was fantastic.”

In fact, this nomination is just the start for Robert, who told us a little about his entrepreneurial plans for the future: “Because I enjoy running Lundgren Tours so much, I have decided to go for it full-time alongside studying, as well as after graduation. For the next year I will build up a portfolio of trips I can offer creating a lower risk, more profitable business model. My ultimate aim is to become a tour coordinator operating behind the scenes and training & employing tour guides to deliver the tours themselves.”

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Students make a drama of enterprise learning IOEE Centre of Excellence London South Bank University (LSBU) is a leading light when it comes to pioneering initiatives that inspire and enable entrepreneurial endeavour across all disciplines. We caught up with three LSBU drama students who are complementing every performance with a side-serving of business thinking.

Forward-thinking colleges and universities are increasingly acknowledging that enterprise learning should not be confined to business and management courses. Rather, it should be taught widely as part of all subjects at every learning level. Holly Stringer (20), Jacob Adams (21) and Tom Davis (23) are all third-year Drama and Performance students at London South Bank University. All three are interested in becoming performers, with a specific interest in live theatre performance, as Holly says:

The Spark programme provides students with funding of up to £500, however, it’s not an easy process and, as Tom explains, the cash doesn’t all come at once:

“We’ve all done small performances on screen and helped out with student film projects but we prefer working in the theatre. Our course is very varied. In the first year, it was a lot of classical training, learning about method acting and naturalistic acting but then later we did a lot of multi-media performances, learning a futuristic approach to making theatre.”

The three students decided to invest the first part of their Spark funding in communications, creating a social media presence for their start-up theatre company, as well as a dedicated micro-site.

Holly says:

One specific aspect of the course that appears to have captured the trio’s imagination is ‘working as a company,’ which is focused on making your own work rather than simply putting on plays written by others. Having forged a tight bond during their studies, Holly, Tom and Jacob are taking the notion of ‘working as a company’ one step further by creating their own real world enterprise – Shindig Theatre Company. To do this they have engaged with two LSBU support programmes that operate entirely separately from their main learning programme. The first is Spark, a programme that runs across two university semesters and is delivered by LSBU’s dedicated Student Enterprise Team. Spark is designed to help students with start-up ideas transform these into real world businesses by providing them with valuable support and guidance at a series of weekly meetings. Because the programme is open to students from any undergraduate course, the drama students decided to take the opportunity, as Tom explains: “We’re planning to tour a piece of theatre later this year so we joined LSBU’s Spark programme back in September with the intention of accessing their business acumen and knowhow to help us to create and develop our own theatre company. We learnt about networking, social enterprise, budgeting and how to market your enterprise in a professional way.”

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“At the start you get £250 but then you must prove your worth, as it were, outlining what you plan to spend the money on, what steps you’ve taken to create your project. You only receive the second half of the money if you achieve your goals in progressing your idea.”

“We decided to use the first instalment from Spark to work on our branding because obviously to sell a performance people need to come to see it. And, as much as we have the skills to create a good show, nobody will know about it if we haven’t marketed ourselves properly.”

Like many of the other Spark participants they met along the way, the three drama students also decided to try their hand at LSBU’s Pitch It competition. This time, students had to pitch their enterprise ideas to a specialist panel who are tasked with distributing £500 funding grants, which the students can use to establish their fledgling enterprises. Jacob recalls: “We had to develop a presentation and pitch for our project, saying what the future of it would be and what we hoped to gain from it. Then they shortlisted a few names, one of which was ours, the Shindig Theatre Company.”

After winning the Pitch It competition, Tom, Holly and Jacob were able to put their additional funding towards their show which will see the fables and folklores of European culture come to life via the techniques of medieval theatre and live music sounds like an exhilarating experience. Tom says: “The piece we’re working on is an adaption of an old Germanic

Left to Right: Tom Davis, Holly Stringer and Jacob Adams

folklore called The Sandman, which is to do with dreams, nightmare and sleep. There’s lots of surreal imagery and it will be an hour-long performance.”

Ultimately, the piece of theatre that Holly, Tom and Jacob stage will be part of their final third year performance project. Having performed for their degree in late May, the three young performers plan to tour their work across other London venues and festivals during summer 2017. The input and fresh learning they’ll take from Spark along the way is something all three appreciate. Holly says: “The whole idea of getting on the Spark programme is that it will allow us to develop the business idea of our theatre company as we simultaneously develop our show.”

And, although the programme doesn’t count towards their degree’s final mark, Tom believes it has already altered their attitudes for

the better: “Spark has made us care more about Shindig Theatre Company because we’ve invested so much time into making it a viable future start-up. I think enterprise education is incredibly important, particularly from our standpoint. As drama students we expected we’d be a bit out of place applying for a business start-up programme but they obviously saw potential in what we were pitching and what we found is that you can apply this business model to any startup; it’s the actual business knowledge, the understanding of how to network and how to build on social and intellectual capital that’s important - and that’s something you can apply to any discipline.

The presence of enterprise in any university is incredibly important and it should be expanded and developed further to reach more people. It’s certainly helped us so far and will hopefully continue to do so.”

Think Enterprise | 31

Are you a business & enterprise support professional?

Prove it...

By gaining the best qualifications available!

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce is a SFEDI-awards-approved centre, offering business support professionals the chance to acquire key business and enterprise qualifications.

The Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) sets the standard for business support services in the UK and is the exemplar standard for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Suffolk Chamber’s SFEDI qualified trainer is Robert Turnbull. Robert is part of the New Anglia Growth Hub, which is managed by Suffolk Chamber on behalf of New Anglia LEP. He has been instrumental in designing the course syllabus, the quality of which has been nationally recognised.

As a SFEDI-approved centre, the Suffolk Chamber operation was awarded Academy status by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE), the only professional body for business and enterprise support recognised by the Secretary of State for BEIS. Robert Turnbull, explained how “I was delighted to mentor all of the New Anglia Growth Hub’s business advisers to help them achieve Level 7 and so have first-hand experience in delivering these first-rate SFEDI qualifications.”

Suffolk Chamber’s SFEDI-accredited team offers these qualifications: Level 7 Diploma in Professional Business and Enterprise Support Services Level 6 Award in Understanding Business and Enterprise Support Services Level 5 Certificate in Professional Business and Enterprise Support Services Level 5 Certificate in Professional Enterprise Mentoring Services Certified Introduction to Enterprise Mentoring

For further information please contact Angela Silburn at Suffolk Chamber of Commerce on: 01473 694818 or email angela@suffolkchamber.co.uk

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Suffolk Chamber of Commerce Felaw Maltings, South Kiln, 42 Felaw Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 8SQ Tel: 01473 680600 Fax: 01473 603888 info@suffolkchamber.co.uk www.suffolkchamber.co.uk

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