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Prince of Wales officially opens The Corner Emporium, Middlesbrough

At the grand opening of the Corner Emporium, HRH Prince of Wales described the project as an example of “what is needed to affect real change at local level”.

Middlesbrough Council have worked alongside Business in the Community and the Princes’ Trust on the unit in Middlesbrough’s main shopping mall, which aims to encourage more businesses to set up and trade in the town.

The shop provides a low cost venue for small businesses and start-ups, and mentors are provided to each of the business owners to guide them through the set up process.

The Prince met with local leaders and start up owners at the project to witness the charity’s work in action.

Stephen Howard, chief executive of Business in the Community commented: “ What we are seeing here today is an example of businesses supporting and nurturing start up companies, which in the end we hope will be job creators and economic instigators in the community.

“When we think about where the jobs are going to come from, they will almost certainly come from small businesses, and while we don’t want to undermine the strength and stability of bigger companies, we need to think about how we are going to create that enterprise culture for small businesses to start up.”

Several business leaders from the BITC Business Connectors programme were also at the event this morning to greet Prince Charles. The scheme creates partnerships between businesses and the third sector in areas of need, to build up strong and sustainable community relations.

Craig Warkman has been seconded from Greggs to lead the Corner Emporium project as part of the programme. He commented: “What we will now be able to do it really open up the high street and then hopefully get other entrepreneurs through the scheme.

“The response has been fantastic - what we’ve been able to do through the Business Connectors Programme is easily move away the barriers which exist just through our contacts, which enable us to bypass red tape and help people set up in business.

“We are now hoping to encourage every council area in the region to have at least one of these shops, and through the wider national business connectors we should be able to move that around, as it’s a fantastic way to get new businesses on the high street.”

Julie Marsden, business development officer for Middlesbrough Borough Council was also at the even this morning, and believes the shop will provide a positive boost for the area.

“Its important we don’t have empty shops, and that we provide opportunities for people who are looking to start up in business

“Ultimately this is a great test trading opportunity and allows people to dip their toe without a big commitment, and this should encourage more people to do that.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .