Business Support

Budding entrepreneurs in North Staffordshire are
being urged to tap into a host of specialist support
to turn their ideas into commercial reality.
Business Link West Midlands (BLWM) is currently
offering a full package of assistance from
immediate start-up advice and information sheets
to networking events and one-to-one mentoring.
The service, which has assisted more than 850
individuals over the last twelve months, will help
aspiring entrepreneurs with business planning,
fi nancial forecasting, sales and marketing, bringing
new products to market and legal issues.
A consortium of specialist providers, including
Business Enterprise Support Ltd, are delivering the
support locally and have advisers in place to assist
another 300 start-ups over the next four months.
“Enterprise is going to be an important driver in
helping the West Midlands continue its recovery
from the recession and we’re delighted that we
are able to still offer a comprehensive package of
support in North Staffordshire,” explained Lorraine
Holmes, Chief Executive of Business Link West
Midlands.
“We have a great team of enterprise providers in
place, who can help individuals overcome some of
the uncertainties they face when starting a business.
They are also experts in providing the foundations
needed to launch and ongoing mentoring is there to
ensure the business survives and fl ourishes.”
She continued: “There are a number of workshops
planned for July that act as both taster sessions
on critical issues and excellent networking
opportunities.”
Two dancers who have been friends since school
have fulfi lled their dream of starting their own
dance school with support from Business Link West
Midlands.
North Staffordshire-based Performance Studios
was started in April by qualifi ed dance teachers
Caroline Sherratt and Amanda Jackson and is
currently using different locations around the area
with a view to fi nding a permanent base with a
sprung fl oor.
The pair teach ballet, street jazz and other forms
of dance as well as drama and performance art,
primarily to young people.
“We’ve known each other most of our lives, it’s
something we’ve always thought about and then,
one morning, I just woke up and decided we’d
reached a stage where we should go into business
together,” said Amanda.
“Things have been going really well so far with the
classes full and once we do fi nd the right premises
we’ll be looking to expand the target audience to
include adults as well as young people.”
Amanda and Caroline received support during the
start-up process from Business Enterprise Support
which provides advice to new ventures on behalf of
Business Link West Midlands.
“The advice we got from Business Link was really
useful in terms of the networks we have been able
to tap into through North Staffordshire Enterprise
Club, in addition to the marketing advice and
support.
“Our next step is fi nding ourselves a permanent
base and then hopefully we can really push on and
take the business to the next level.”