Over 80 women from Bradford met at the Carlisle Business Centre last night to be inspired by EUK Ambassador Dr Mah Hussain-Gambles to start and grow their businesses. Dr Mah is the owner of SAAF cosmetics which produces a range of Halal approved and organic beauty products. The event was hosted by Bradford Grid and Read more…
As I mentioned in my blog post last week we can’t open a newspaper or switch on the TV without stumbling across a story of an entrepreneur these days. As if to prove my point two new series start on the BBC this week. Tonight sees the doyenne of candles and moisturisers, Jo Malone, helping Read more…
This weekend I went back to where I grew up to join the family business in celebrating their latest achievement. My parents and brother run a garden centre and this weekend they opened their new retail shop, an impressive 1200 square metres of barn-style building complete with underfloor heating and impressive ranges of giftware, clothing and garden furniture.
My Dad took Read more…
Well according to Ganesh Selvarajah, an adviser at the government-backed business support service Business Link, the holy grail for small retailers is knowing how to target new customers. He directly answers a question about this on the BBC website and he makes some interesting suggestions to one small business owner about the demographics of the Read more…
Last night I spoke to one of my friends, a recent graduate, who has been unemployed for a number of months – a situation I remember well after leaving University, unlike my contemporaries, without a job in the city lined up. We chatted about the sense of worthlessness, the fear and panic that at not Read more…
Yes its true. Well its true in the sense that a man with a laundry business dressed up as Superman and washed some clothes on the plinth in Trafalgar Square.
What a great example of how a small business can punch above their weight and get national exposure – off the back of his appearance he Read more…
We all have our favourite, inventive entrepreneurs. Men and women who were driven by ideas that were far-fetched at the time, but that have now become an established part of our social and work lives.
However, it is worth remembering that not all new enterprises need to be driven by a shiny, glistening new idea.
Independently owned, Read more…
Is there something unique about enterprising activity, or the minds that drive it, that make entrepreneurial activity and social enterprises particularly natural bedfellows?
Nominations for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion 2010 have now opened. Lord Mandelson suggests that ‘recipients of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP) are outstanding individuals who are inspiring tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and giving them the skills and attitudes they need to succeed’ and that ‘they hold the key to unlocking Britain’s entrepreneurial talents Read more…
So sad to see Coffee Republic to go into administration this week, let’s hope they find some buyers. At least one of our Ambassadors cites them as the inspiration for setting up her business, so it just shows that even good and inspiring business people don’t neccessarily last for ever (at least in their current Read more…
What an inspiring story for anyone else on the dole. 18 year old Josh found himself out of work and bought an ice-cream trike off ebay for £1000 as a way to make money. He’s hiring the trike out for weddings and fetes. Brilliant!
It’s very rare that I watch a programme which really inspires me but last night I was lucky enough to catch Mary Portas Queen of Charity Shops and it honestly left me buzzing. I’ve been thinking for a while that charity shops should be taking advantage of the recession and making it sexy to buy Read more…
Yesterday saw the finale of the Make Your Mark in the Markets competition and a few of us trotted along to find out more. We ended up in the very plush surrounding of a parliamentary reception and chatted to some of the finalists whilst sipping tasty juices and eating scrummy cakes.
It was then time Read more…
When Howies got bought out by Timberland I wondered if it would retain it’s ability to be entrepreneurial. Happily so far it doesn’t seem to have dented their enthusiasm for innovation and the latest to be launched is Teepay – a site where designers upload their t-shirt designs and, if they receive 30 orders, their Read more…
Being green fingered myself and a lover of good food I was particularly pleased to be alerted to the story of Andrew Johnson in the Guardian. He was made redundant in 2004 but is now running a business expected to turnover more than £1m next year.
His business is Living Salads, a great supermarket alternative to Read more…
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