Wednesday 13 July 2016

Enterprise Hub Start Up Conference is a Great Success

This blog has been written for us by a great new member of our team; Sam Millne, who is joining us this week for work experience…
           On 13th July, 2016, here at 54 St. James Street, we held an Enterprise Hub Business Start-up Conference. There were many pastries and drinks laid out for the guests as we welcomed them in to the conference room. Many of them were very impressed with 54 St James Street and it’s views with comments such as ‘you’ve got some views here!’ and ‘I’m really impressed by the building’ were being dropped. 





At the beginning of the conference, the attendees were given 20 minutes to network and get to know each other. One guest said’ it’s great to be able to network so easily’. Our sponsor’s representative, Nick Bell from Start Up Direct, came and told us about Start Up Direct’s loan scheme for businesses. Start Up Direct is a delivery partner of the Governments Start Up Loans Scheme that provides up to £25,000 in start-up funding for entrepreneurs wanting to start a business.
Next we heard from Tom Rogers who left his secure teaching role-as a history teacher-uncertain of his future, to set up his own business. He’s set up Rogers History, a business which uses the internet to tutor teachers and students. He has his own website and is currently supply teaching as well. Tom gave an interesting, animated speech in which he was greatly informative to all of our guests as to what he had experienced in setting up his business and how he wants to take his business forwards. Shortly after the conclusion of Tom’s speech the conference took a fifteen minute break to socialize and enjoy the wonderful sights of the city, from our fourth floor terraces.


Once the conference had reconvened we heard from another business owner, Jenn Appleton. Jenn is the owner and an instructor at Kumon Woolton, which is part of a franchise that provides study programmes for maths and English, in order to build children’s confidence and inspire a passion for learning. Jenn went on to tell us how life changing experiences forced her to take action and remember how life’s too short so she must seize the opportunity to do something she loves. A guest said that it was good ‘hearing the experiences of other business start ups’.
Once Jenn’s inspiring talk had concluded, all the guests introduced themselves to the group, showing bravery, which is needed to be self-employed. There was a range of different backgrounds, but there was an underlying theme of an education background showing through, perhaps highlighting the stress that the teaching industry is undertaking and the urge many teachers feel to have more freedom and get out of teaching.
Soon after, the guest came up with a list of pros and cons of being self-employed. Some examples of cons were that you need to be self-disciplined and flexible. However on the other side of the argument there were ideas mentioned such as having higher aspirations and more freedom to experiment with ideas. There were positives thoughts on the pros and cons exercise with one attendee saying ‘it was a good exercise to make more aware of what you’re buying into’.

In conclusion, the conference was a success and it opened many people’s eyes to the world of starting your own business. The guests gave their thoughts and said ‘it was very informative’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘useful for someone looking for a starting point’. Many of the attendees are going to continue to pursue their dream of owning their own successful business. 

If you have an idea for a business then contact Enterprise Hub to find out about the free advice and support available on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk


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Enterprise Hub is part funded by



Thursday 7 July 2016

Enterprise Hub invite Budding Entrepreneurs to a 'Business Start-Up Conference'

Last week the new business start-up programme for Liverpool City Region ‘Enterprise Hub’ was declared ‘open for business’ as it launched at The City of Liverpool College, and is kicking off in style with the ‘Enterprise Hub Business Start-up Conference’.



Part funded by European Regional Development Fund, the Hub will provide support to over 6,000 residents of Sefton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Wirral and Halton over the next three years. The programme will help local residents to assess their business ideas, develop a business plan, understand their tax and national insurance liabilities, create an innovative marketing plan and access finance to get started.

The first major event of the Enterprise Hub calendar following the launch comes to Liverpool on 13th July in the form of a Business Start-up conference.  The conference run in partnership between Enterprise Hub partner The Women’s Organisation and Start-up Direct will offer men and women from Liverpool City Region opportunity to find out about how they can benefit from the free support on offer.  Local entrepreneurs who are already running their business will share their experiences of getting started and advice on things to think about along the way.  Those attending will also be given opportunity to join in workshop style activities to understand the practicalities of self-employment and will discover how to work with enterprise hub to move their ideas forward.

Nick Bell, Startup Direct North West Regional Development Manager said “Startup Direct Liverpool are very pleased to sponsor the Enterprise Hub Start-up Conference. As a leading delivery partner for the UK government’s Start Up Loans Scheme we have already helped more than 1,500 UK businesses access more than £12M of funding. The Enterprise Hub will provide the tools and support for even more local entrepreneurs to launch or expand their business and our new Liverpool office is ready to help them access funding. Talk to us via the Enterprise Hub or visit www.startupdirect.org.”


The Enterprise Hub Business Start-up conference will run 10am-1pm at 54 St James Street in the Baltic Triangle. If you would like to book on the conference CLICK HERE to reserve your ticket. 

For more information about enterprise hub please contact Enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk or 0151 706 8113.



Enterprise Hub has Launched!

Thousands of budding entrepreneurs are set to benefit from a new European-funded Enterprise Hub that is aiming to help fledgling businesses get off the ground across the Liverpool City Region.

Maggie O'Carrol, Julia Sweeney & Elaine Bowker 


With a mission to support more than 6000 people who are considering setting up their own enterprises and, in the process, help 1,200 businesses to start-up, the Liverpool City Region Enterprise Hub officially launched on 30th June at The City of Liverpool College.

The Hub will provide support to residents of Sefton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Wirral and Halton over the next three years. Business start-up services on offer via the Hub will be delivered by a network of ten partner organisations; The Women’s Organisation, St Helens Chamber, Liverpool JMU, Granby Toxteth Development Trust, Everton Development Trust, Alt Valley Community Trust, The Prince's Trust, Merseyside Expanding Horizons, SAFE Regeneration and Franchising Works while CEO & Principal of City of Liverpool College Elaine Bowker referenced the importance of ensuring the region has the right skills provision to sustain businesses. 

Around 200 influencers from the Liverpool City Region joined the Enterprise Hub partners to launch the project, including some of the region’s leading accountants and legal advisers, who specialise in start-up advice, along with local councillors and support services. Keynote speaker at the event Julia Sweeney, Director, European Programmes & Local Growth Delivery DCLG emphasised the importance of investing in enterprise to sustain our economny. CEO of The Women's Organisation Maggie O'Carroll declared the Liverpool City Region "Open for Business".




Enterprise Hub which will be part funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is being led by The City of Liverpool College, its accountable body, with The Women’s Organisation operating as managing agent for the programme.  The initiative is being supported by 5 local strategic partners who will be supporting the programme’s engagement strategy, ensuring Enterprise Hub delivery teams are connecting with diverse communities.  These include: The City of Liverpool College, Liverpool Central Library and IP Centre, Liverpool Mutual Homes, Merseycare NHS Trust and Plus Dane Housing.

As part of its involvement with the programme, The City of Liverpool College will connect its own students to the Enterprise Hub, enabling them to access pre- startup and start up advice and support.

Elaine Bowker, Principal and Chief Executive of The City of Liverpool College said, “Start-up businesses are an essential economic driver for the region and a vibrant entrepreneurial sector is a key indicator of a healthy regional economy. We have long supported future entrepreneurs at The City of Liverpool College, delivering a range of business course that equip students with the skills required to run successful enterprises of their own. We already work in partnership with The Women’s Organisation to offer student enterprise services, where students with business ideas can access support and advice to set up their own companies. Leading the Enterprise Hub programme was, therefore, an obvious choice for us and we are hugely excited about the potential it has to help bring thousands of innovative business plans to fruition. By linking our students to the programme we will channel a pipeline of Further Education graduates into the Enterprise Hub, ensuring that this valuable source of entrepreneurial talent is not missed.”

 CEO of The Women’s Organisation Maggie O’Carroll said:
“We are thrilled to be helping to steer forward this exciting new enterprise initiative for Liverpool City Region. The creation of new businesses is vital to keep our local and national economy afloat. We hope Enterprise Hub evidences how investment in enterprise services can reduce unemployment, raise aspirations and give people a chance to pursue their dream of business ownership with expert and strategic support. The Enterprise Hub partnership brings together organisations with a variety of expertise ensuring that those interested in getting advice can link with experts who can offer them quality services.  We urge anyone who has an idea for a business to get in touch and let Enterprise Hub guide you to getting started.”


Anyone interested in taking up support from Enterprise Hub should contact 0151 706 8113 or Enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk