North East SMEs offered free innovation guidance

North East small business owners are being offered free advice on how to grow their business, across an eight-week programme of events at Business & IP Centre Newcastle.

Organised in partnership with the British Library, Newcastle City Council, Newcastle Science City and Northumbria University, the Innovation Elevator programme will run from April to June and will be based at the City Library in Newcastle.

The programme offers business owners free advice and networking opportunities through six two-hour workshops which will provide practical tools to help grow their businesses.

One-to-one mentoring sessions are also available with experts who can advise on next steps to help arm businesses for further growth.

A number of local companies took part in the first Innovation Elevator programme which ran earlier this year.

Gareth Godwin, managing director of Teesside-based WRL Glass Media said: “We decided to enrol on the course as we’d just gone into manufacturing and a lot of the elements of the programme were ideal for what we wanted to use to go forward.

“I got something from every single element and every single speaker that I listened to and I’ve actually engaged a couple of the speakers to help us move the company forward.”

Speaking about the programme, Luke Burton, manager of the Business & IP Centre Newcastle, said: “Through Innovation Elevator we’re giving business owners the support they need to bring their new ideas and opportunities to market.

“Not only is it a great opportunity to come together with like-minded people to share best practice and ideas, at the end of the programme, delegates will have gained something tangible like a business plan that they can implement within their company, all for the simple investment of two hours of their time per week.”

Louise Cook Edwards, owner of biographical memoirs company iwriteyourstory.com enrolled on the programme shortly after returning to the UK from 25 years living in Spain.

She said: “After starting a new venture and relocating back to the North East I was totally out of my comfort zone in this business arena.

“To come on this course and hear all the different elements has been very illuminating for me, as well as meeting people and having a new network of business associates. I was very impressed.”

There are limited places remaining on the course. To secure your place, call 0191 277 4100 or email bipcnewcastle@newcastle.gov.ukto. For more information about the Innovation Elevator programme, visit:www.bipcnewcastle.co.uk/innovationelevator