North East council announces up startup support initative

A North East organisation has announced a new programme to help support startups in the area.

Durham Ambitious Business Startups (DABS) is a new initiative set up by Business Durham, the economic development arm of Durham County Council.

DABS will test new approaches for encouraging and supporting business startups across the county.

The three-year project will provide a programme delivered by three sub-contractors – TEDCO, Candle Digital and UMi – which will each be responsible for different elements of DABS.

Sarah Slaven, Business Durham’s interim Managing Director, said: “There are lots of entrepreneurs with great business ideas, but they don’t always have the confidence to pursue them.

“Durham Ambitious Business Startups is all about increasing ambition, raising aspirations and helping companies to reach their full potential in County Durham.

“We want to be able to help businesses that have an ambition to reach out and grow year on year creating a lasting legacy of great businesses that County Durham can be proud of.

“We recognise that the months ahead are going to be very challenging for the economy, and once we get through this difficult time, more than ever there will be a need for new approaches to support businesses to start up in the county.

Councillor Carl Marshall, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for economic regeneration, commented: “We’re really pleased to support Business Durham in launching the Durham Ambitious Business Start-Ups project.

“This is an initiative which can only help attract even more businesses to County Durham, benefiting the local economy. In doing so it very much supports our vision to create 30,000 jobs over the next 15 years.”

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