Economic development and business support company YTKO has raised the flag for the UK once again this year in Global Entrepreneurship Week, winning the prestigious Grand Jury Prize for inspiring entrepreneurialism at the 6th European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA), at the European Commission’s first ever SME Assembly in Cyprus.

The company, winner of the UK’s national BIS Enterprising Britain Award for Promoting Enterprise in September, was applauded by delegates from across the UK and Europe.

Business Secretary Vince Cable commented:
“It is great news for YTKO that its approach in promoting enterprise to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in the UK has been recognised. They have shown that if you have the passion to start a business you can make it a success. Their achievements will ultimately help to boost jobs and growth across the country and they are to be congratulated.”

In announcing the YTKO’s Outset as winner of the Grand Jury Prize, Joanna Drake, Chair of the Jury and Director of SME and Entrepreneurship for DG Enterprise, said:

“When selecting the winner of the Grand Jury Prize, we are looking for a project that is both creative and inspiring in the way it encourages and supports entrepreneurship and this year’s winner has delivered impressive results whilst tackling the issue of self employment and unemployment.

“Outset uses innovative methods of communication to reach into different and often disadvantaged communities – and their ideas for marketing and communications could be transferable across the European community.

“The Award-winners this year are truly outstanding. Most critically, all of them, including Outset, could be adopted and replicated – this is what these Awards are really designed for: to identify brilliant approaches that can be shared and used elsewhere.”

Outset won against 420 project nominations from all 27 EU Member States, as well as three participating countries, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey, who have opted into the EEPA.

In the last three years alone, YTKO’s Outset programme has helped to create more than 1,200 new businesses and over 1,400 new jobs.

Outset supports clients in inner cities, coastal, rural and other deprived communities to be self-employed. The programme’s pre-start, start-up, investment readiness, post-start sustainability and peer group support has created more than £2.3m GVA, unlocked more than £1m of business finance – and saved more than £1.2 million on unemployment benefits alone in the last three years.

In Norfolk, Outset, funded by Norfolk County Council, created 75 new jobs and businesses in its first 18 months to March this year, exceeding all its targets – including engaging nearly 1000 residents and providing information about enterprise.

The service also harnessed significant additional mentoring support for clients from YTKO’s award-winning Norfolk Network, and from across all parts of the business community. To date, more than 3,000 mentoring hours have been donated, providing a valuable resource of additional 1:1 advice and guidance to Outset clients in order to help ensure the creation of sustainable businesses and jobs for the region.

More than half of the new businesses created via Outset are led by women, and 17 per cent of Outset clients are from black, minority or ethnic groups. Outset reaches more than twice the national average of young people in enterprise, at 15 per cent, with nearly a third of its clients previously unemployed. 21 per cent of the new businesses started with Outset’s support go on to create additional jobs within the first year of trading.

YTKO’s CEO Bev Hurley was in Cyprus to attend the SME Conference. On receiving the Grand Jury Award from the judges, she said, “I am so proud to accept this award tonight on behalf of my dedicated team and all the exceptional individuals who have participated in the Outset programme and created thriving new businesses.  Their entrepreneurial spirit is inspiring, and shows that much can be achieved with the right attitude and the right support.

“Outset is creating a significant legacy of new jobs, new enterprises, and new entrepreneurs, all making a real contribution to economic recovery in the UK.”

For more information on YTKO’s Outset programme, please visit www.outset.org

Shortly after taking redundancy, the 51 year old from Thetford in Norfolk, acting on recommendations from his local Town Manager and Thetford Job Centre, contacted Outset Norfolk to find out how they could help him plan for self-employment.

“The referral really was what I needed, because I was trying to run before I could walk”, says Stephen. “I wanted everything up and running straight away, but things just don’t work that way. At the time, all I had was a good idea and a very draft business plan, with no idea of how running a business worked!”

Following an Information Session and 1-1 meeting, Stephen was referred to Outset Norfolk’s Business Start-Up programme, so that he could gain the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about his next steps. He was also matched with a mentor, local businessman Peter Wortley, who, prior to running his own professional coaching business PTPP, was MD of one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers.

Stephen had already identified a promising local market for edible snails, in the Portuguese population around Thetford, Ely, Watton and Norwich. But this alone, he says, was not enough to make the plan viable. “A second strand to the business plan came through my wife’s work with a local school, where the diversification of species is part of the curriculum.

“Heliculture seemed like an excellent way to explore diversification, in a species that has adapted over millions of years to survive in every climate and environment on the planet.” Pupils from Thetford Academy (South), formerly Charles Burrell School, were the first to explore heliculture as part of their studies – and Stephen’s snails, from Giant African Land snails to the smaller “Gross Gris” and “Petit Gris” snails found commonly in our gardens, were a huge hit.

“I have taken full advantage of every session, course and opportunity on offer from Outset,” says Stephen, “and putting me in touch with a business mentor was the icing on the Outset cake. I had lots of ideas, but no real experience of running a business. Working with Outset and with my mentor has given me clarity in my business planning, from understanding the competition to identifying sources of revenue.”

Having a fully developed business plan has, says Stephen, accelerated his plans. “Looking at where revenues will come from and how each aspect of the business would function, it became very clear that I needed a plot of land.

“Thankfully I’ve been able to move on some areas of the business without it, because having decided that it makes more sense to buy rather than to rent, I soon found that was easier said than done, even in Norfolk.”

With a parcel of nearly three acres currently awaiting completion, Stephen has expanded the scope of Snailz & Specialities, to include the growing and supply of speciality vegetables, such as Jerusalem Artichokes, White and Lemon Cucumbers, Chervil and heirloom varieties of tomatoes and potatoes, among others. “My wife and I spend a lot of time on the continent. We have always been struck by the huge array of unusual and exotic veg that seem to be readily on offer there. By comparison, our supermarkets here in the UK seem very limited, ” he says. “So a business that began life as ‘Snailz’ has evolved to become ‘Snailz and Specialities’, with the added revenues streams that the speciality produce can deliver.”

Less than one year after his business planning began, market research and testing have shown that Snailz & Specialities’ snail breeding, educational workshops and the growing of speciality produce will indeed work side by side. Initially, says Stephen, both the snails and vegetables will be sold through local farmers markets and directly to an already growing list of customers, including interest from one of Europe’s leading catering and foodservice companies, Brake Bros.

Mentor Peter Wortley has really enjoyed working with Stephen to help fine tune his plans. “Working with Stephen has really opened my eyes to the challenges faced by start-up businesses”, he says “he brings such passion to the job. That’s where he – and other new business owners – really can differentiate themselves from larger businesses.

“It’s that passion that has built such a robust sales pipeline for Snailz and Specialities, along with his previous experience in industry and access to the support he needed to acquire new business skills. As a result I can see Stephen’s business being really successful going forward.”

If you would like to find out more about ‘Snailz and Specialities’ you can email him- snailz@talktalk.net

“I was fascinated by the machinery that they used to manipulate the beeswax through a mangle type machine to get the sheets of foundation and I just loved the smell of the beeswax too – I was hooked!”

After finishing her Open University degree in French, Sally-Anne returned to Norfolk, but found herself unable to find employment that could support her financially. So she decided to look into what she could do with bee products and see whether her hobby could be turned into a sustainable business.

Her local beekeeping association taught her how to create beeswax candles, as well as lotions and hand creams using beeswax. Sally-Anne soon learnt how to make soaps and hand creams on a professional basis. After learning about Outset Norfolk at her local shopping centre, Sally-Anne contacted the programme:

“I was in need of some help. I knew that there must be some ‘legal stuff’ on setting up a soap making business, as well as a lot of other things that I probably didn’t know about, but I really wasn’t sure what it would be or where to start, and I was so pleased to discover Outset Norfolk.” A one-to-one meeting followed, in which Sally-Ann was able to discuss her business ideas with Outset Norfolk Programme Director, Chris Leighton.

“The first thing Chris did was taking me seriously, which is incredibly re-assuring. She then gave me exactly the information I needed to find out, and I signed up for the start-up programme. Sometimes with advisory services, I’ve found that if the business doesn’t fit into a standard mould then the advice is limited or not really appropriate. The great thing about Outset Norfolk was it treated my business as individual and looked at my specific needs.”

Sally-Anne took up a four-day course for business start-ups, in which she was also able to meet other new businesses. Now test trading and ready to formally launch her business, she has already booked several craft fairs this year. She also hopes to start offering workshops in making soaps, cosmetics and candles at venues in Norfolk and France.

For more information about The Happy Bee Company please visit www.thehappybeecompany.co.uk

The brainchild of former e-learning advisors Johannes Arenfelt and Pip Cartwright, SQUARE:CODE  was launched a year ago – and today is breaking new ground in delivering ‘codes you control’ through its SQUARE:CODE Exchange. Using this system, a single QR code now has the ability to deliver new content and messaging as a dynamic response for the consumer – and crucially, allows the Code owner to monitor performance against each promotion, message or campaign in real-time.

Emerging from Toyota in 1994, QR codes were originally developed to track auto parts in production. In recent years, with the advent of smartphones, they have found increasing popularity in marketing and advertising, for the super-fast delivery of promotional messages straight to the consumer.

Unlike conventional QR Codes, which are static and will only ever show one message, SQUARE:CODEs® are dynamic. When people scan a SQUARE:CODE, they are redirected to a message of the owner’s choice, such as a website or video. That message can be updated or changed whenever the owner likes, to ensure that people are always taken to the most up-to-date, relevant information. The owner controls their Codes with the SQUARE:CODE Exchange, or via a smartphone.

A key feature, CONSUMER:CONTROL, means that for the first time ever, products printed with QR Codes can be sold on the High Street, opening up new opportunities, for example, for personalised clothing and giftware.

“When Johannes and I took redundancy in 2011, we both felt that there was enormous potential for the further development of QR Codes,” says Pip. “but the technology had shortcomings that needed to be overcome for many applications.

“SQUARE:CODE Exchange is the culmination of developing  improved functionality, flexibility and reporting, to deliver a much greater level of interactivity between the real world and the web.”

The Norfolk men have praised the work of Outset Norfolk, which provided business start-up support and introduced them to their mentor, engineer, sales director and successful serial entrepreneur, Malcolm Munday. “Having been through redundancy, we were both pretty vulnerable and inexperienced at running a business when we started 99SQUARED Ltd”, says Pip. “Outset’s programme, workshops and peer-to-peer support really helped to grow our confidence, taking us through the business essentials, but also helping us to refine our business ideas.”

Meeting Malcolm, says Pip, was the stroke of genius. “Malcolm’s experience has helped us slice right through to the fact that what we were developing was not simply another product, but a three-dimensional service, that has an inbuilt capability for growth and development with our customers’ needs and advancing technologies.”

Malcolm began working with the duo in May last year. It is, he says, an exciting business with almost limitless potential. “99SQUARED is in a very strong position in this marketplace, and with a strong focus on ‘3-dimensional’ development within the capabilities of The SQUARE:CODE Exchange, they have succeeded in creating a real point of differentiation for their business.”

While The SQUARE:CODE Exchange continues to attract new customers around the world, Johannes and Pip are consulting as 99SQUARED Ltd. with a number of local, national and international clients, to deliver consultancy and planning for the integration of 3-D QR capabilities in their marketing and promotional programmes.

For further information, please visit http://www.squarecode.biz

However, he realised that although a sound hospitality background provided him with a wide range of skills and experience, he didn’t really have any practical knowledge of the essential business nuts and bolts to start and grow a successful business.

Having received strong recommendations from a number of friends, he approached Outset Norfolk, which, following an initial meeting, highlighted a variety of weaknesses with his business concept. Following this, Roger enrolled on a five-day business introduction programme.

After the course, Roger felt equipped with all the practical knowledge that he needed to make his business happen.  He launched his  new business, Foodbizz offering personalised hospitality and cookery training to both the amateur and professional alike, as well as exciting team building experiences for the corporate market, along with a consultancy service and private catering.

But just one business was not enough for Roger, having been totally smitten with the entrepreneurial bug!  Alongside Foodbizz, Roger has also now opened Silver Fox chocolates, making handmade Belgian chocolates for sale to both the wholesale and retail markets. Roger has used the chocolate side of the business, which is very popular, to promote Foodbiz.  Based on an idyllic farm in ‘the Brecks’ of rural South Norfolk, he is looking forward to a bright future in the world of business, and is very hopeful that he’ll be able to grow and take on others in the future.

Roger said, “Outset Norfolk provided me with all the tools to take my business forward, highlighting opportunities, areas of strengths and weakness and how to capitalise or improve on them.  The programme has introduced me to the importance of marketing and social media and how best to use these to his advantage. I found the initial and continued support of Outset Norfolk both vital and greatly appreciated and it has also proved to be a great facility for discussing new ideas with peers and the team – I can’t thank them enough.”

For more information about Foodbiz please visit http://www.foodbizz.co.uk

Tanasie heard about Outset Norfolk from a friend who had taken a course there and decided to find out for herself what it was all about. Tanasie says, “I thought it would be an opportunity for me to show what I was capable of and to use my talent and cooking skills for starting my own business.”

“I worked for other people, including my mother who was cooking for the President and the Prime Minister of my country, but I have never done anything for myself. I really do have a passion for cooking and creating different dishes.

I attended a five-day Business Start up programme with Outset Norfolk and found the whole programme very enlightening. The Programme Manager was Chris Leighton – her coaching and mentoring skills were absolutely outstanding. There were thirteen of us on the course and I am sure all would agree with me that it was a very uplifting, informative and interesting programme, an eye opener for anyone interested in starting a business.”

In March 2012, Tanasie held a successful presentation of her food, for which she prepared dishes from various countries, including Caribbean, Indian, Italian, English food and food from West Indies. She intends to start her catering business “Hint of Spice” In April 2012.

“I intend to build a strong, successful and profitable business within two to five years. I feel very positive for the future and believe that I will be able to open a successful restaurant to serve wonderful, mouth watering spicy dishes. I want to consult my customers and to promote a professional and friendly image. I want to maximise use of local resources and minimise waste, maintain affordable prices for my customers and achieve awards for excellence from external professional bodies.

Tanasie’s mission is to produce food that most people have never tasted before, and we hope that once her food has been tasted and experienced by customers, they will enjoy it and come back for more.  As she says, “This, of course, will make my business grow strong and successful. I will not fail, I now have an incredible belief and confidence in what I am doing.”

Watch this space for the launch of Hint of Spice!

Between them, they had nine years of DJ experience, including internet radio shows and playing out at local events and festivals.

“We have both worked for most of our life, but found unfortunately found ourselves out of work. Due to the lack of work available in our area for us, we have decided to create jobs for ourselves by turning our hobby into a successful business venture that is also going to benefit others” says Sherryanne.

“Our idea is to teach children the basics of DJing and music production.  We will be using a wide range of hi-tech equipment which is not usually available for children to experiment with, such as turntable decks, CD and MP3 decks, laptops and iPads with amazing educational music apps.”

Poppy and Sherryanne offer an eight-week course where children can learn how to mix dance music, and will even be able to broadcast a live online radio show at the end of the project, showcasing new skills they learned on the course. Through these lessons students will also gain essential experience and skills that will benefit them in their future lives, such as working to deadlines and working in groups.

They initially saw a poster advertising Outset Norfolk, the business start up training and the fantastic mentoring support on offer, and went along to the meeting with their business idea, which has gone from strength to strength since then. “Our mentor has been a great help in advising us and pointing us in the right direction.  Chris has also been supplying us with great introductions to people like The Prince’s Trust and Future Radio Norwich that could benefit our business.”

“Outset Norfolk has helped us make decisions and proper plans for our business and now we have more understanding of business itself.  We have gained more knowledge of finances, marketing, customer service, and completed a business plan for the direction of the company.

Poppy and Sherryanne are working hard, and want to look at branching out to different regions of the country. They would also like to become strongly established in the local schools, and continue returning to the schools term after term to see how students progress within their schooling career.

To find out more please visit www.thedjyouthproject.co.uk

“In October 2011 my work colleague and I got the bad news we were going to be made redundant. We saw it as an opportunity to start up our own company ‘BDI Security’. Our idea was to sell, install and maintain all kind of security equipment from alarm systems and CCTV systems to security lighting, and with the promise of sub-contracting work to keep us afloat while we found our feet it seemed like a win-win situation. “

Unfortunately, the sub-contacting work never came about and it soon became apparent that even though Lee and his colleague were both accomplished at the engineering side of their industry, they did not know how to run a business, let alone how to attract new customers. The inevitable happened, they went separate ways, and Lee was left to try to start a business on his own.

“Being a glass half full sort of person and not the one to quit, I set about trying to make my idea work with the little bit of money I had left. I soon found out that with no marketing or sales experience, no idea what my target market was, and with no proper business plan in place it was an impossible task.” With his confidence levels low, Lee started looking for a full time job again. In February, he heard about Outset Norfolk for the first time.

“I didn’t want to give up on my idea, so I decided to give Outset a ring. I enrolled on a four-day intensive training course. From the first session I knew I had done the right thing and felt that this course could really help me in getting my business off the ground and fill in the gaps in knowledge about business start-up I lacked.”

Lee also attended an extra course on creating a website, and received mentoring support to help him with the marketing of his company. “I have found this support invaluable and without Outset’s help I would have never been able to get this far”, says Lee. “I now have a completed business plan that I will be using to secure some investment or funding in the near future. Work has already starting to come in, and with the ongoing mentoring on marketing that Outset set up for me, I feel confident  about the direction my company is going in and feel much more positive about my own and BDI Security’s future.”

To find out more please phone Lee on 07500335598 or email him at info@bdisecurity.co.uk.

He was introduced to Outset Norfolk through the Job Centre in Kings Lynn, who gave him details about the support and courses available. The decision to sign up to Outset Norfolk, he believes, has really proven to be the right one.

Graham was delighted to be able to call on the help and advice offered by Outset Norfolk. “They have been an extremely useful resource during the start-up process of Excellon Systems and they have empowered me to get the business up and running. The four day Business Start-up course was excellent, which helped me focus my thoughts and really kick-started the setup process for me”.

The key element of Graham’s business is to provide customised software to self-employed people and to small businesses. “Almost all businesses nowadays will have at least one PC at their disposal, and in a lot of cases it is under utilised as resource for that business. We aim to provide bespoke software to make that resource work hard to improve the efficiency and productivity for each client’s business. We either produce the software completely from scratch or offer our services as an ad-hoc resource to help fill any skill gaps they may have, either on a short or long term contract basis”.

Excellon Systems also provide a website design service, utilising all of Graham’s experience and skills to create robust and correctly functioning sites with a friendly and highly usable interface.

With thoughts turning to the future, Graham said, “I want to build a team of like minded software engineers to produce quality driven software. Ideally I’ll also be able to pass my skills onto others, and to this end we hope that Excellon Systems will be able to provide some form of apprenticeship to local youngsters to enable them to enter the world of IT.”

Graham hopes to grow the business so that they can start to develop their own software products, which can then be tailored to individual business’ needs and will help in driving their clients’ businesses to success.

For further information on Excellon Systems please visit www.excellon.co.uk