Yorkshire libraries to help entrepreneurs and young businesses

Libraries across Yorkshire will host free business support programmes for startups and prospective entrepreneurs from October 5.

The programme will begin at Horsforth Library, before rolling out to selected libraries across the city over the next two years.

The workshops will start with an introduction to the support on offer and information about resources available. Further sessions will cover what makes a successful business, how to choose a business model, pricing of products, cashflow forecasting, tax, bookkeeping, and marketing.

The support is being delivered in partnership with AD:VENTURE and the Business & IP Centre Leeds, run through the Leeds Libraries Service.

Cllr Mary Harland, executive member for communities at Leeds City Council, said: “It doesn’t matter whether you are in crafts or digital, or whether you want to sell to the public or other businesses, as long as you have a business idea, Start-up Leeds is here to help you.

“You may still be at the ideas stage, or you may have already started your business journey and be in the early stages and need some advice; whichever it is, we are here to help. We want to make the support easy to access for everyone, which is why our workshops will be run in local libraries across Leeds.”

Tracey Purcell, founder of Beautiful Ethical and user of the Business & IP Centre Leeds, said: “The Business & IP Centre have an amazing range of free resources and support available for small businesses and start-ups, which I have found invaluable in helping me get my business off the ground.

“When starting Beautiful Ethical, I attended a range of the BIPC’s webinars and one-to-one sessions which really helped give me the skills I needed to grow and market my business through tailored support.”