Recently the Partnerships Team in the Cabinet Office visited SFEDI, the IOEE and some small businesses that have benefited from mentoring support. The Partnerships Team is a small policy team based in the Cabinet Office in Whitehall which was set up in 2011 to improve relationship management of large companies on behalf of the Prime Minister […]
News and Blog Articles
“It is a very steep learning curve, so we take all the business support we can get” – Vicki Gardner shares her start up story.
In late March, ambitious new businesswoman Vicki Gardner came along to Meet a Mentor at Exeter Castle. Afterwards, we caught up with her to find out about both her business and the event. After 20 years of working as a freelance photographer, Vicki Gardner teamed up with friend Jane Hill to establish Gardner & Hill. […]
Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills sets out priorities for Small Businesses
This week Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills gave a speech at the Engine Shed business centre in Bristol to set out his priorities for supporting Britain’s small businesses. Here’s his speech in full. I’m delighted to be back in my home town of Bristol. And to be here at Engine […]
How well do you know your LEP? Let us know in this IOEE member survey
In recent months, the IOEE and SFEDI Group team has been working more closely with many of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). Ruth Lowbridge, Executive Chair of SFEDI, spoke at the LEP conference last month and Leigh Sear from SFEDI Solutions has helped the North East LEP and Liverpool LEPs map out the business support landscape in […]
SFEDI and IOEE’s Executive Chair joins board of Trustees for PRIME Cymru
This month, Ruth Lowbridge, Executive Chair of SFEDI and the IOEE, has joined the board of Trustees for PRIME Cymru, The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise in Wales and the only wholly Wales based charity that is a member of HRH The Prince of Wales’s group of core charities. PRIME Cymru provides practical support to people aged […]
Nichola English Shares Her Journey To Becoming The Wardrobe Provocateur
Nichola English is the Wardrobe Provocateur. Newcastle-based Nichola’s unique business combines style insights, sartorial advice and one-to-one life coaching. Now 43, over the years the fashion expert has overcome more than her fair share of adversity including life-threatening health issues and a significant accident. Despite this, she has an excellent entrepreneurial story to share with […]
Mentor helps Olly take his first steps running a farm
Olly Walker has had an unconventional route into farming. Now, he is benefiting from the support of an experienced mentor as he takes his first steps running his own farm. The 34-year-old has taken over Essebeare Farm near Witheridge in Devon but earlier in his life it looked like his career would take a very […]
Globetrotting career that ended up on the farm
One farmer that has benefited from the support of the Get Mentoring in Farming scheme is Mark Lee, whose journey to the industry initially saw him travel the world as an international sportsman and soldier. As captain of the Scotland Sevens team, the British Army and the Combined Services, Mark Lee played rugby all over […]
Mentoring’s A Gift For Present Retailer
Tracy Ackroyd runs perfectlyperfectpresents.com, a retail site selling handpicked and often handmade gifts for women and children. As well as jewellery and accessories, the online store stocks home and garden gifts, wedding gifts, children’s books and toys. As someone who has already worked with a start-up mentor and is now on the lookout for a […]
“Ultimately, I want to be the market leader. That’s my big ambition” – Clare Garner Shares Her Entrepreneurial Journey So Far
Clare Garner is someone very ambitious. Her determination saw her overcome the adversity of her partner Gus breaking his neck just as she was establishing Prestige, a cost management business. Now, aged just 28, Clare says she’s always been convinced she’d have business success: “I’ve always been really entrepreneurial and known I’d have my own […]