Spirit of enterprise wins Tynedale national award
Published at 13:11, Thursday, 13 November 2008
TYNEDALE’S entre-preneurial spirit bounded into the national spotlight thanks to a voluntary organisation.
The success of the Tynedale Enterprise Project was acknowledged when it was named one of the runners-up in the national finals of the Enterprising Britain Awards.
The project’s chairman, Gill Burgess, was presented with a trophy by businessman Peter Jones, of BBC2 The Dragon’s Den fame, during the ceremony at 11 Downing Street.
One NorthEast’s head of business, enterprise and skills, Tim Pain, said: “We’re extremely proud of Tynedale – the district has done a great job of showcasing North-East England’s growing enterprising culture.
“I have no doubt that communities elsewhere can learn a great deal from its success.”
Tynedale Enterprise Project has helped to either establish or grow around 80 independent businesses since its inception just 18 months ago.
Its panel of 30 plus volunteers and one paid member of staff offer a free and confidential business management coaching service to anyone living or working in Tynedale.
The project – the first of its kind in the North-East – is a subsidiary of the Sirolli Institute, founded by American community economic development guru Ernesto Sirolli.
It was a talk given in Hexham by the great man himself that inspired a group of like-minded Tynedale business people to act.
Gill Burgess, who had launched her own business, Hexham-based r//evolution marketing, four years earlier, was one of them.
“Ernesto Sirolli is a very charismatic man. He simply talked about community enterprise and what it meant to him,” said Mrs Burgess.
“I don’t have a lot of disposable time, but what he said made sense to me.
“I grew up in Tynedale, I set up my business here, my children go to the local schools – I feel I want to give something back.”
The enterprise project supports businesses at all stages of their development, prior to start-up and through to expansion.
As the salaried member of staff, enterprise facilitator Mark Read has been trained in the ways of Sirolli.
He works closely with clients, helping them remove any barriers to development.
“Mark is there to offer support, not to act as a crutch,” said Mrs Burgess.
“It isn’t down to him to motivate or stimulate, because the client himself has to be in the driving seat if he is going to stay the course.”
The advisory panel, comprising experienced business people drawn from across the district, provides weighty support.
It usually focuses on three of the fledgling businesses during each of its monthly brain-storming sessions.
That could mean something as simple as coming up with the name of a good bookkeeper, or negotiating the rather more choppy waters of finance packages.
Clients seeking help first have to sign up to the key Sirolli tenet, that one person cannot be equally good at all aspects of business.
Mrs Burgess said: “For any business to be successful, no matter what its size, it must have a trinity of management.
“Its needs one person to concentrate on the product or service, one on the marketing and one on the financial management.”
Tynedale Enterprise Project was working hard to persuade people they didn’t have to do everything themselves, even in the early days.
The type of businesses it has helped establish to date includes home furnishings, office services, a dog therapy centre, farm diversifications, an ethical T-shirt company and a motorhome holiday exchange website.
Funded by One NorthEast and The Northern Rock Foundation, the project is also supported by Tynedale Council.
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
