Aspiring and ambitious Oxfordshire-based business-people are being encouraged to sign-up to a new workshop, supporting those with ideas and future plans to prosper and flourish.
The ‘Start and Grow Your Business Now’ workshop – which is being delivered by OxLEP Business in partnership with the newly-launched Oxfordshire County Library Business and Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) – is set to target those in the county looking to start their own business, or people who have launched a company and are now ready to accelerate its growth.
Delivered by leading experts, the event – which takes place on 19 July – will be focused on encouraging participants to have a greater understanding of business fundamentals with the aim of developing viable, successful and sustainable business plans, supporting their ideas or growth plans.
Sessions will cover key areas including; critical thinking skills, collaboration, creativity, understanding how ideas can turn into actions, further access to business support programmes and help in understanding why businesses succeed or fail.
OxLEP Business – the business support arm of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and growth hub for the county – has a strong track record of supporting the county’s business community, with a significant number of organisations turning to them following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Since the start of the pandemic, OxLEP Business has introduced a number of new and tailored programmes and funds, created to provide much-needed backing to the Oxfordshire business community.
Over the past 12 months alone, they have launched the £2.1million Business Investment Fund and – in May – it brought to market the Cherwell Business Adaptation Fund. In addition, between April 2020 and August last year, OxLEP Business engaged with 2,670 businesses and provided over 12,000 hours of support during the same period.
This new workshop will be delivered at the BIPC, located at the Oxfordshire County Library on Queen Street in Oxford. It will run across two, three-hour sessions – 9.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm and 4.30pm.
The Oxfordshire BIPC itself offers a variety of support and guidance for aspiring business leaders and entrepreneurs, with an array of resources available to its visitors including; a free-to-use workshop room, marketing suite, market research databases and co-working areas.
Business information officers are also available on-site to support start-up and business needs via one-to-one sessions online or in-person
Helen Brind – Growth Hub Manager at OxLEP – said: “We are delighted to be teaming-up with the Oxfordshire BIPC to deliver this workshop and would like to encourage those looking to start a business or grow their company to register for this event.
“Like all parts of the UK, the past two years in particular have been extremely tough for businesses in Oxfordshire, but – supported by OxLEP Business – start-ups and growing businesses in the county do have access to excellent support, helping them to bring their ideas to life, understand the principles of running a productive business and ultimately give them the best chance to be commercially successful.
“Our experience in supporting businesses is second-to-none and we would therefore encourage eligible candidates to find out more about this new workshop and discover if they are able to benefit from it.”
Ryan Johnson – Business Engagement Manager at BIPC – said: “We are excited to have OxLEP delivering this very valuable event at the newly-opened BIPC. Following the event, participants will be able access many of the other opportunities and resources available at the centre.”
Last week, OxLEP Business also announced the extension of its ERDF-funded eScalate programme, through to the end of April next year.
eScalate, which supports Oxfordshire’s small businesses and those enterprises for social good to grow with a particular focus on accessing finance and investment readiness, has itself supported over 550 Oxfordshire-based businesses.
Helen Brind added: “We continue to listen to our business community and create business support programmes that suit them.
“The extension of our eScalate programme is testament to this and we are also excited by further activity set to be announced in the coming months, as well as our ongoing growth hub programme which provides vital day-to-day business support.”
Sign-up to 'Start and Grow Your Business Now’
