Archive news
Ten Sixty Six Enterprise - Case Study: Trade Counters turn up the heat
Having worked for a leading nationwide plumbing and heating supplies company for several years, Steve Bloomfield felt the trade deserved a better deal and, in May 2002, began Trade Counters Plumbing and Heating Supplies from his home.
Steve had only been in Hastings two years and had little knowledge of the local market so he used his sales experience to produce and distribute hundreds of mail shots, handle telephone canvassing, follow-ups and build an effective database of new contacts.
This effort developed into Trade Counters Direct, and Steve bought his own van and began delivering fittings directly to plumbers and heating engineers at extremely competitive prices, a service that understandably proved very popular.
The business expanded rapidly, had quickly outgrown Steve’s home and was now operating from a low, sub-basement lock up. Steve took on his first member of staff but space was still at a premium and most of his stock had to be displayed on the pavement outside to give them room to move inside. It was late 2004 and the business was still only 18 months old.
It was time to take the plunge. Steve found an old, closed and run down woodworkers shop on the main road in Ore village and undertook a complete refurbishment of the premises to create Trade Counters Plumbing and Heating Supplies.
He found Ten Sixty Six Enterprise on the Internet, made contact with Business Mentor Sean Dennis. Sean helped Steve control his expansion programme and successfully prepare a grant application for internal shop fittings and quality fascia signage.
“It was very helpful to be able to speak to someone from business who had no axe to grind, no bias, and no ulterior motive. Sean’s advice and mentoring really made a difference,” said Steve. “The grant application form filling was certainly worth the effort. I would not have been able to complete the refurbishment work to such a high standard without it.”
So successful was the help that Steve went back to Ten Sixty Six Enterprise for a second grant in May 2005. This time, for more showroom fixtures and fittings, a stair lift to ensure the new first floor bathroom showroom was fully DDA compliant and further signage for the new expanded premises.
Again, Ten Sixty Six Enterprise came up trumps.
Steve has taken Trade Counters from nothing to a turnover around £1,000,000 in less than five years and is still in contact with Sean and the team at Ten Sixty Six Enterprise.
Would he have done it without Ten Sixty Six Enterprise?
“I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. But I know they certainly helped.” He said.
Steve has now joined Ten Sixty Six Enterprise’s new BizFizz committee as part of the management team as he feels the help that he received is worth passing on to other entrepreneurs.
After all, there’s no substitute for experience!
Local MP Michael Foster and Sean Dennis director of Hastings based Capitalise Business Support (CBS), which provides Sussex and Kent businesses with financial support, gave a presentation to MPs at the House of Commons, about the organisation, plans to expand into new areas and how CBS can benefit their local constituencies.
The achievements of the organisation were highlighted through a presentation from CBS client Carol Sands, who opened a café/bar and performance venue, The Rooms, in St Leonards in Sussex 18 months ago. Despite having a good business idea, Carol, like many others, faced barriers when it came to securing financial support, being refused business loans when she approached the banks.
The financial support and business advice from CBS helped her to start-up and now she is developing rehearsal space and a recording studio. “Our scheme is aimed at achieving positive social change and bringing wealth to local communities, especially disadvantaged ones, through supporting new and existing businesses,” explains Sean. “We saw in Carol’s proposal not only a great business idea but something that also had the potential to really improve and assist the regeneration of the St. Leonards area.”
The Right Honorable Margaret Hodge MBE MP Minister of State for Industry and the Regions attended the presentation and commented that they had used a great opportunity to promote the scheme, showcase their clients, and show how CBS can help the MP’s constituents.
Want to start your own business or have a great idea you are passionate about?
Bizfizz is a national business coaching initiative run jointly by the Civic Trust and New Economics Foundation – and it has just placed its’ first coach in the South East here in Hastings, funded by the Government’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative through Hastings Borough Council.
Bizfizz offers free, confidential and informal one-to-one coaching to anyone thinking of starting their own businesses or looking to develop an existing one through on-going support to help unleash their individual business passion.
Bizfizz works with all types of businesses or business ideas at any stage of development and centres on you as the entrepreneur rather than just on how to write a business plan or open a business bank account – although it can help with that too due to its’ close links with 1066 Enterprise and the wide range of courses they offer.
The Bizfizz coach in Hastings is Clive Gross. Clive comes from three years working as a PR and Marketing Manager for a local leisure trust, but has previously spent most of his career in the music and entertainment industry, running several small businesses of his own from a record stall in London to a gallery and café in Eastbourne.
To find out more about Bizfizz and how it could help you, call Clive on 01424 205509 or 07771 645263 for a confidential and informal chat. You can also visit www.bizfizz.org.uk
Gimme Five! Hastings firm celebrate 5 years’ success after 3 day start-up workshop.
There can’t be many people who haven’t heard of 1066 Enterprise and the help and advice they give to start up businesses in Hastings and St Leonards - but how often do we hear what became of the companies who benefit?
Having completed a 3 day start up workshop back in March 2001, local web design firm FAT promotions opened its doors for the first time - and are still going strong 5 years later. “We simply couldn’t have done it without their help, their advice was invaluable” says founder Fiona Allman-Treen. “Not only did they set us off in the right direction, they went on to support and mentor us through that all-important first year”. The company also benefited from ongoing support from Graham Marley and his team regarding growing the business and taking on additional staff as the client list grew to include larger blue chip companies and even an airline subsidiary! “They even chipped in some funding to help make sure we continued to grow” continues Fiona. “Now we recommend them to all our clients, especially those just starting out in business as their office is the best place to start”.
For full details of all the start-up workshops and latest courses from 1066 Enterprise, visit their website at www.1066enterprise.co.uk.
LINKS:
www.fatpromotions.co.uk
www.1066enterprise.co.uk
Hastings - The Place to do Business
Despite national trends showing a 20% reduction in people looking to start up in business, Hastings appears to be bucking the trend according to the latest figures from Ten Sixty Six Enterprise.
Offering a diverse range of services, from group workshops to one-to-one mentoring, Ten Sixty Six Enterprise has had another record year with a 10% increase in the number of clients seen, who are looking to set up in business.
“One of the reasons for this seems to be the continued interest in the area for people relocating not only for a better quality of life but also for the amount and quality of business support services on offer locally to help people start up,” says Sean Dennis, Business Services Manager at Ten Sixty Six Enterprise.
Jennifer Beaumont-Whyte is just such a person. She moved to Hastings from London in 2005 and has just set up her business ‘Beyond Boundaries’, which provides lifestyle coaching for business women. (www.beyondyourboundaries.com)
Jennifer says, “This is a great place to live and work after the hustle and bustle of London. The support I have received from Ten Sixty Six Enterprise has been tremendous and I am really looking forward to developing and growing my business with their support.”
To find out how Ten Sixty Six Enterprise can help start up, develop and grow your business contact 01424 205500 or visit www.1066enterprise.co.uk
Are women realising their business potential?
Despite the fact that on a national scale fewer females are setting up in business compared to their male counterparts, the gap between male and female entrepreneurial activity is narrowing, with female entrepreneurship now standing at 46% of male entrepreneurship levels. In 2003 it stood at 42.9%.
Sean Dennis, Business Services Manager, at Ten Sixty Six Enterprise, says, “There are many reasons why more and more women are starting their own businesses. Some of these include a means of returning to work, easier access to finance and a way of balancing the demands of earning an income and keeping a busy family running or for that matter any mix of these.”
However, research also suggests that whilst increasing numbers of women are exploring the self-employment option, many do not ultimately progress any further than this.
Given the subject of Women’s Enterprise is an important area for the Department of Trade and Industry, Ten Sixty Six Enterprise is now working with the South East England Development Agency to help research this area.
“As such, we are very keen to speak with women in the ‘pre start up’ phase to identify the key issues facing potential women entrepreneurs, explore ways to address their needs and assist them in overcoming barriers which hinder them from starting their own business”, continues Sean.
From this research Ten Sixty Six Enterprise aims not only to identify cost effective approaches to overcoming these barriers but also assist those women who have attended pre-start programmes to take the final step of starting an actual business. In addition it will enable Ten Sixty Six Enterprise to encourage collaborative working among local partners and to share best practice.
If you would like to help with these aims please contact Sean Dennis, Business Services Manager, Ten Sixty Six Enterprise 01424 205504 or e mail sean.dennis@1066enterprise.co.uk
For further advice on how Ten Sixty Enterprise already helps hundreds of people each year to start up and succeed in business contact 01424 205500.
Small businesses warned about financial brokers
Small businesses in East Sussex are being warned to
be wary of financial brokers who are targeting firms with ‘pie-in-the-sky’
promises of cheap commercial mortgages.
East Sussex County Council’s trading standards service says that
the brokers claim to be able to get cheap commercial mortgages and verbally
offer a low interest rate. However, when it comes to the crunch of the
written contract the rate is much higher but the brokers still demand
their fees.
One company – Gateway Finance.co.uk Ltd, which has its registered
office in Crowborough, has had its advertisement withdrawn by ‘The
Publican’ magazine after a string of complaints from pub landlords
across the country. The company were allegedly failing to provide access
to loans, at either the interest rates, or the amounts, that had been
promised by its sales reps.
A look at their standard written contract shows that there was actually
nothing in writing to specify the interest rate or the size of the loan.
In effect, the company was simply stating that it would “endeavour
to secure a source of finance”.
The company in question is now in a ‘corporate voluntary arrangement’,
which is an insolvency process used to try to rescue a firm that has been
unable to meet its debts.
Councillor Bob Tidy, Lead Member for Community Services, said: “When
dealing with any sales rep, especially from a firm you haven’t dealt
with or heard of before, always ensure that the key elements of what they
are saying is included in their written contract.
“Trading standards regularly get complaints of this nature from
people running small businesses, who realise too late that they have signed
a written contract that bears little relation to the sales pitch they
were given. This leads to real problems later when trying to prove what
was actually agreed. The bottom line is if the contract fails to reflect
what the sales person has been saying then don’t sign it”.
For further information please contact: Martin Fitzgerald on 01273 481691
or email martin.fitzgerald@eastsussex.gov.uk
More business for approved trader scheme
More East Sussex companies are demonstrating their commitment
to good customer service by signing up to East Sussex County Council’s
approved trader scheme.
A further 23 businesses have joined the Council’s ‘Buy With
Confidence’ scheme bringing the total number of members up to 138.
Another 30 companies are currently going through the application process.
The latest firms to join were welcomed at a recent ceremony attended by
Council Chairman, John Barnes and Lead Member for Community Services,
Bob Tidy.
Councillor Tidy said: “The Buy With Confidence initiative is a dream
double for the community. It’s good news for consumers who can be
confident of a reliable and customer-friendly service if they use one
of the businesses on the list. And it’s good news for traders as
they benefit from the publicity and potential extra business of being
an ‘approved trader’.”
Council Chairman John Barnes added: “I was delighted to be able
to welcome so many new businesses to the scheme, which goes from strength
to strength. It was good to see firms coming from right across the county
and to know that we are dealing with a win-win situation - a scheme that
is great for the customer, particularly the elderly, who need to know
who they can trust, and good for the businesses themselves."
The Buy With Confidence scheme is co-ordinated by the Council’s
trading standards service. It puts consumers in touch with approved traders
who have agreed to provide high standards of customer service, including
dealing promptly with any complaints. The traders have also undergone
rigorous checks and an audit before they join. Any business can apply
to become members of the scheme. The list of approved traders runs from
builders to wine merchants and from chauffeurs to upholsterers.
If businesses want to find out more about joining the
scheme they should contact the County Council’s Buy With Confidence
team on 01323 418215 and select option 2. Consumers who want to find an
approved trader should call the same number and select option 1.
The list and information on joining the scheme is also available online
by visiting the County Council’s website at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/buywithconfidence
Up Close & Personal – businesses visit schools & adult community
learning project
Fourteen local business people took time out last Thursday on a visit to educational projects in the Greater Hollington area of St Leonards designed to look at ways in which they could offer practical support.
“The aim of the Up Close & Personal programme is to bring some of the deprivation statistics that are quoted about the town to life”, says Jonathan Dolding, Business Broker at Ten Sixty Six Enterprise and organiser of the day. “It’s really to highlight some of the everyday issues that residents face, what’s being done to address them and look at ways in which the private sector can contribute.”
The day, led by David Tate, High Sheriff of East Sussex, visited Robsack Wood Primary, including a tour of lessons and a chance to speak with pupils and teachers. The group then moved on to the Horizons Community Learning project. The business leaders had the opportunity to speak and listen to testimonials of local adults who have returned to education, studying courses such as ways into work, nursing, digital photography and creative writing. To conclude the visit, the group moved on to Filsham Valley school, enjoying a tour of the school from senior prefects and a presentation about the schools’ bid for business & enterprise specialist status.
David Tate, commented, “The visit was well organised with a good mix of large and small businesses, which gave a broader range of reactions. The visits were interestingly different, and I look forward to seeing some of the projects that come about as a result.”
The visit included representatives from the following businesses: Arrow FM, BT Local Business, Creative Partnerships, Fuga Ltd, McDonalds, ROK Build, Style Promotions, Ten Sixty Six Enterprise, The Hastings Centre, The Observer Newspaper and Trilobyte Technologies.
For more information on the Up Close & Personal programme and how your business can get involved, contact Jonathan Dolding on 01424 205507 or e-mail jonathan.dolding@1066enterprise.co.uk
Ten Sixty Six Enterprise gains IIP accreditation
Ten Sixty Six Enterprise, the Enterprise Agency for Hastings & Rother and Chamber of Commerce for Hastings & St Leonards, has been awarded Investor in People status.
Investors in People is the national standard that sets a level of good practice for training and development of people to achieve business goals.
“Our people are the key to us operating as a successful
company and are central to our company culture. Training and developing
the team increases staff retention, loyalty and productivity, which in
turn increases customer satisfaction and at the end of the day improves
the bottom line”, comments Graham Marley, Chief Executive of Ten
Sixty Six Enterprise.
Graham is pictured receiving the award from Hastings & Rye MP Michael
Foster in front of 90 local businesses at the Business Luncheon Club on
Wednesday 21st September.
Above From left to right are: John Hodges (company Director), Julie Walker (Principal, HCAT), Michael Foster, Graham Marley, Linda Williams (Chamber of Commerce) and Sally Coveney (Deputy Principal HCAT)
Dates for the Diary
The Hastings & St Leonards Chamber of Commerce
The Ten Sixty Six Enterprise & HCAT Business Luncheon Club
At the Beauport Park Hotel: 12- 2pm
For information about the Chamber of Commerce or the Business Luncheon Club, please contact Linda Williams at Ten Sixty Six Enterprise on 01424 205511.
New Entrepreneur Scheme
We are delighted to announce our 7th running of this highly successful start up programme and invitations for the new cohort are now invited. The new programme will start September, to find out more and how to apply click here.
Danish Multinational supports Stamco through University project
An innovation development programme bought 12 managers from a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company to see Stamco, providers of timber, building and garden materials, in Hastings.
This unusual combination was the result of an exciting strategic business and innovation project managed by CENTRIM at the University of Brighton. The Danish team conducted an intensive 3-day review of Stamco’s business including their DIY and Trade offering at the Hastings branch, their business model, strategy and processes and a competitor analysis.
Their findings were presented at a workshop with the Stamco management team. The workshop included their findings, business innovation ideas and a number of practical and relevant exercises for business development.
John Cornelius, Operations Director at Stamco, said “this was a great and rare opportunity for us to work with an international company from a different sector that could take a wholly independent view of our business. They did an incredible job in a short time and gave us a powerful presentation that was hugely beneficial. We are keen to keep up the momentum to drive our business forward.”
The event was particularly well timed, because it coincided with a strategic review that is currently being undertaken in-house. Emma Pearce, Marketing Manager, at Stamco said “we would like to thank Dave Francis at CENTRIM for giving us the opportunity to work with Novo Nordisk. We have had really positive feedback from Denmark about how the project was very valuable to their innovation activities as well as for our strategy process.”
Stamco is also working with the University of Brighton on other projects and recommends that other local businesses consider the variety of ways that they can receive commercially-beneficial assistance. For further information contact Emma Pearce on 01424 456820.
Social Enterprise: The Rooms
Summer 2005 sees the opening of the latest addition to the new face of St. Leonards - The Rooms recording and rehearsal studios. The Rooms offers a variety of facilities to satisfy and inspire those with a creative bent, as well as providing a homely meeting place and community hub in the heart of the town.
The fully equipped, professional recording studio and soundproofed rehearsal space cater for bands and musicians looking for a relaxed environment in which to hone their skills. Experienced resident staff are on hand to offer advice and assistance, while on a more social level, The Rooms has a broader outlook. Through its integrated vegetarian café, bar and relaxation area, owners Carol and Rob Sands will be offering a variety of workshops and events aimed at developing creativity in the community. In addition, there is a gallery display space for visual artists and a performance space for music and spoken word, providing an outlet for local talent to reach a wider audience.
The opening of The Rooms is the culmination of years of hard work, perseverance and dedication on the part of the Sands', who have both been active participants on the local music scene for many years. Recognising their calling early on, they are eager to use their musical knowledge and open-hearted outlook for the benefit of the wider community: The Rooms aims to operate a non-exclusive policy, making the facilities affordable to anyone and everyone through the innovative SkillShare programme. SkillShare enables participants to effectively trade their skills in return for the use of facilities at The Rooms.
In a move that has mirrored the rejuvenation of Western Road itself, the Sands' have invested much time and effort in completely renovating the premises; transforming the tired corner plot into a vibrant and welcoming centre for creativity, thus providing a base and support framework for community-based arts projects and workshops. Over the forthcoming months, creative-minded people across the area can look forward to a variety of events and one-day programmes including DJ, guitar and vocal workshops, studio techniques and music industry talks.
Further information on all of the facilities available at The Rooms, as well as details of forthcoming workshops and events programmes, can be obtained by calling into The Rooms at 33-35 Western Road, St. Leonards, by calling 01424 713555, by emailing info@therooms.org.uk or via the website at: www.therooms.org.uk.
Scholarship Programme Runs Again
Ten Sixty Six Enterprise are delighted to invite applications for their 7th cohort of the New Entrepreneur Scholarship programme. The national scheme provides 90 hours of free business advice to budding entrepreneurs from the most deprived wards of Hastings and St Leonards.
Successful scholars will start the programme in September which will run over the next 5 months. The series of workshops and dedicated mentoring will help scholars develop their ideas and test them for viability. They will then be able to apply for grant funding of up to £1,500 towards their start up costs.
Sean Dennis Business Services Manager at Ten Sixty Six confirmed ‘this scheme continues to deliver fantastic results; time and again scholars tell us that without the advice and ongoing support received their ideas never would have got off the ground’.
An early scholar Angela Lumb of The Magic Wardrobe will shortly commence her third year of trading; she said ‘the training and advice I received from the New Entrepreneur Scholarship programme was a superb grounding in the world of business that has been invaluable during my first two years of trading. I am just moving premises and once again can draw on the skills I learnt’
To find out more about the programme or register your interest please contact Sharon Fitzhugh on 01424 205504.
Photo shows Angela Lumb meeting Michael Foster MP, Nigel Griffiths MP & Sean Dennis.
Home Care Agency Team Keen to Learn
Quality Home Care, based in St. Leonards and serving
people in Hastings and Rother, is committed to ensuring that 95% of their
staff are trained to NVQ Level 2 in Care. The company have invested in
a dedicated training centre and are working with Care Connect Learning
so that their Home Care Workers are able to study for their NVQ's on line
at times that are convenient to them.
Ishbel Reed, Training Officer said: "With full training our staff
feel like they have a career rather than just a job. We let our staff
have access to the training suite in the evenings and weekends so they
can work at their own pace. Some of our staff have had no experience on
computers but the Care Connect package offers basic instructions and within
a short time they are whizzing around the keyboard. Staff are doing the
training because they want to and feel a sense of ownership."
The agency has gone from strength to strength since
being taken over by Zoe Rushton, Loretta Southgate and Sandra Kursey in
April 2004. When they bought the business there were 25 employees. Now
they have over 300 service users' in the community and 75 staff providing
1600 hours of care per week.
Zoe Rushton, Registered Manager and a Director of Quality Home Care, said:
"As the agency has got bigger our need for training became a focus.
Home Care Workers often have unusual hours and we wanted to find a way
that would make training convenient for them. We pay for all our staffs
training, giving extra personal support when needed and because of this
they are committed to staying with us. This ensures our service users'
have a greater continuity of care. The training gives them self-esteem
and job satisfaction. If you treat your staff well, they treat the customers
well."
Trevor Bandey, Business Development Manager for
Care Connect Learning, said: "We are very pleased to be working with
Quality Home Care. Their commitment to training is admirable. The government
requires that Domiciliary Care Agencies should have 50% of the care hours
they provide to be given by NVQ2 qualified staff by 2007. Quality Home
Care will be far ahead of these requirements by next year."
Quality Home Care - 01424 715733
Care Connect Learning - 020 7613 0999 /
www.careconnectlearn.co.uk
Made in Hastings Celebrates 1st Birthday
Made in Hastings, celebrated its first birthday and the launch of its website at the beginning of the month with a party at its Old Town shop. The 6 local artists began trading in June 2004 to sell locally made quality products and rapidly became stockists for further local artists and craftspeople.
“The past year has been an exciting journey and a steep learning curve for the six of us”, says potter Judith Rowe, “we have certainly learnt a great deal about running a business, and it’s been great to celebrate the success of the last twelve months with our friends, customers and suppliers.”
The Old Town shop is now pleasantly crowded with the work of over 50 local suppliers, including children’s tepees, jewellery, paintings, pottery, clothing and many more accessories for the home and the team has been forced to take on an additional member of staff.
“We are very keen to preserve the fact that everything in the shop is functional…. We’re not a gallery, we want to sell beautiful locally crafted products that can be used on a daily basis”, continues Judith.
Made in Hastings has not only received much local interest, but has enjoyed regional and national coverage in Country Living, The Guardian, the BBC’s Homes & Antiques magazine and a recent feature on BBC Southern Counties radio, all of which have brought people into the town from further afield.
Made in Hastings – 82 High Street, Old Town / 01424 719110 / www.madeinhastings.com
Let's do Business 2005 – 18 more exhibition stands for top inter-trading event
Following the sell out of exhibition space in the main auditorium at the third Let's do Business exhibition, organisers can now confirm that there will be an additional 18 stands to meet the increasing demand from local businesses to feature at the event.
Organiser of the event, Jonathan Dolding says, “The demand for businesses to be at the event has been fantastic…to be sold out in June for a November event is testament to how the format of the event is regarded by the local business community. We have therefore added a further 18 exhibition stands in the Jubilee Room at the Hastings Centre to complement those in the main hall.”
Let's do Business 2005 is sponsored by Ten Sixty Six Enterprise, BT Local Business, NatWest, Sea Space and Sussex Enterprise and will take place from 10am – 5pm at The Hastings Centre on Thursday 10th November.
For information on exhibiting, directory advertising or simply visiting Let's do Business 2005, register online at www.letsdobusiness.org, e-mail info@letsdobusiness.org or call 07074 423123.
Growth for Telham Training
Local company, Telham Training Ltd, has recently seen massive growth following the launch of their new Services to Business in the Hastings and St Leonards area. Sarah White, company director started the business in 2004, identifying a gap in the local market for tailor-made group and one-to-one IT training.
Telham Training offers a broad range of training packages covering from Microsoft Office to Intuit Quickbooks, targeted to support small and medium sized companies. Recent growth has been attributed to the company’s newly developed Floor Walking Service.
“Companies have found our new service particularly helpful. Our trainers work onsite to provide unobtrusive training and support for individual staff at their workstations with minimal disruption to the office routine. This has proved very cost effective and it can also reduce productivity bottlenecks within the company” says Sarah White, Director.
Telham Training Ltd – 01424 775191 / www.telhamtrainingltd.co.uk
Home Computing is no longer taxing
A number of years ago the government announced plans to encourage employers to provide their workforce with computers for home use. Unfortunately, they made the scheme so complicated people needed a degree in applied mathematics to work it out. Unsurprisingly it failed to deliver the anticipated benefits.
In a review of the process the Inland Revenue simplified matters and as a result an employee can now be provided with a computer for use at home without being taxed with a benefit in kind
Patrick Lee is a Partner at Hasting based accountants Ashdown Hurrey: “The employer who buys the equipment will be able to recover the VAT and the employee will get the use of the equipment through salary sacrifice, which will save tax and employee’s national insurance at the marginal rate. The employee will not be subject to tax on the benefit in kind for using the equipment whilst it is owned by the employer.”
The employee can buy the equipment from the employer at its market value without any liability to tax. Most schemes will provide for a three-year equipment loan period at which time the computer, which will be of negligible value, will be sold to the employee for a nominal figure.
Patrick added: “For a higher rate taxpayer, a £1,000 computer system would have a net cost to the employee of approximately £420, saving £580. For a basic rate taxpayer, the cost would be approximately £570 with a saving of £430. On top of this, the employer will be saving approximately £110 on the deal.”
For more information contact Patrick Lee at Ashdown Hurrey on 01424 720222 or email patrickl@ashdownhurrey.co.uk for details of how the scheme can work for you.
Further success for Locate East Sussex
This month has seen the culmination of much work by Locate East Sussex, the Investment Promotion Agency for East Sussex.
It has launched its new website, www.locateeastsussex.org,
which provides support and information to businesses considering the County
as a location, and offers the capability of searching for available premises
using an on-line commercial property database. This database is populated
by all the main commercial property agents operating within East Sussex.
It has also continued its success in the recruitment sector by helping
to locate a well-established national agency, Hays Specialist Recruitment
Ltd, in offices in Hastings’ Town Centre. A team from Hays’
Construction and Property Division will operate from the offices, which
are in Bank Buildings, above Subway. Currently, the team comprises three
consultants, who have been seconded from within the Division. It is hoped
that future positions will be filled by locally recruited staff.
Hamish Monro, Chairman of East Sussex Economic Partnership
said: "This adds to the success of the previous month and confirms
the confidence that recruitment agencies appear to have in the area’s
economic renaissance."
To contact Locate East Sussex call 01424 205512 or email enquiry@locateeastsussex.org
or visit their website at www.locateeastsussex.org.
Rural Broadband success
The last in a series of three rural broadband events was held at the offices of Westridge Construction on the Bodiam Business Park this week.
Around 60 rural businesses have been represented at the events, staged at rural business parks across Rother, and organised by The Broadband Centre. The events were intended for businesses with specific broadband enquiries, for those wishing to experience broadband and for those with IT or technology issues to discuss. East Sussex Broadband were also promoting £100 grants for businesses wanting to get broadband for the first time. They were joined by SEEDA staff who were on hand to discuss other local business regeneration projects.
Broadband Centre Marketing Manager Tara Leigh-Jepson said “We’ve had some really good feedback from those who attended. I think they appreciated the opportunity to meet other rural businesses in a relaxed, local setting. And we had some great business success stories too. For instance, we managed to introduce two businesses to each other – one who was able to offer maintenance on the product of the other. Previously, maintenance required a costly call-out to engineers from a manufacturer. So the events have really been worthwhile”.
The events were sponsored by The Broadband Centre a SEEDA regeneration project part-financed by the EU and supported by BT. The centre provides free, impartial IT advice to businesses in the Hastings and Rother.
Three years ago, David Ball and Trisha Walmsley dreamed of opening a shop to sell their fair trade instruments and clothing.
But a meeting with Ten Sixty Six Enterprise opened their minds to bigger and better things, leading to the launch of www.naturalflowdirect.com on the world wide web where the company is now distributing their range of Djembe drums, percussion instruments, and clothing throughout the world.
Their relationship with Ten Sixty Six started with a ‘Business Start Up’ workshop. It was here where they learned the importance of having a proper business plan, and, as David puts it, the benefit of proper ‘fiscal planning’.
Today, the company trade with a large ‘shop’ on eBay, their own site and through the fair trade portal www.getethical.com. They also visit musical festivals and outdoor events, and travel throughout Asia and Africa sourcing new products directly from the producers. The fundamental principle of the company is to source from fair trade partners whenever possible, is a member of the British Association of Fair Trade Shops and is an ESCC Trading Standards ‘Buy with Confidence’ Approved Trader. This year, turnover has increased by over 40% and now their only concern is keeping up with demand.
David maintains constant contact with Ten Sixty Six and appreciates them being available for help and support and likes the benefits of having a “sounding board” close at hand. He plans to stay with Ten Sixty Six “as long as they will have us”.
Ten Sixty Six Enterprise is now recruiting aspiring entrepreneurs for its thirteenth New Entrepreneur Scholarship programme, which will start in December.
This highly successful programme which has supported over 100 scholars during the past 5 years is offering up to 15 places to people who want to see if they can set up in business.
With its mix of structured training and mentoring support over 4 months, it helps you to develop business skills and test your ideas before launching. For those completing the programme and demonstrating potential viability for their idea, there is also a discretionary grant towards eligible set up costs.
Angela Lumb, The Magic Wardrobe Queens Road, Hastings was an early scholar, she said ‘This really is an excellent programme which I would strongly recommend anyone looking to start in business to apply for. The sound business skills I learnt from the scheme have been invaluable to me over the years & instrumental in helping set up my second business, The Hastings Baby Shop.’
If you live in Hastings or Bexhill and want to check if you qualify for the New Entrepreneur Scholarship, or for any help in starting your business contact Sharon Fitzhugh on 01424 205500 or visit www.1066enterprise.co.uk
Enterprise Week
Next week sees the 3rd annual Enterprise Week running from 13th to 19th November. Still primarily focused on raising entrepreneurial awareness to the young its success has grown to now encompass many areas.
Once again Ten Sixty Six Enterprise is supporting this week long event with the following activities:
If you would like to find out more about the above events call 01424 205500 and have a successful Enterprise Week
Could you be a business Scholar?
Ten Sixty Six Enterprise is delighted to announce it is looking to recruit aspiring entrepreneurs later this month for its fourteenth New Entrepreneur Scholarship programme, which will start later on in the year.
This highly regarded programme which has supported over
100 scholars during the past 4 years is now offering 10 new places.
It provides a structured mix of training and mentoring over 4 months to
enable people to develop their business skills and test their business
ideas. For those completing the programme and demonstrating potential
viability for their idea, there is also a discretionary start up grant
available for items such as initial rent and insurance costs, purchase
of machinery and computer equipment and further training.
Angela Lumb, The Magic Wardrobe, Queens Road, Hastings was an early scholar, she said ‘This really was an excellent programme which I would encourage anyone looking to start in business to apply for. I have just started my 4th year of trading, which I know is largely due to the sound business skills I learnt from the scheme’
So if you live in Hastings or Bexhill and want to see if you qualify for the New Entrepreneur Scholarship, or for any help in starting your business contact Sharon Fitzhugh on 01424 205500