Leicestershire’s Business Gateway and De Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester are working together to offer a unique opportunity to anyone with a business start-up idea.
DMU’s Crucible programme, which has successfully supported 60 businesses over the last five years, is now being made available free of charge, thanks to the Business Gateway, which is part of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
The five-month Crucible Start-up programme will provide practical masterclasses in business essentials such as marketing, finance, intellectual property law, copywriting, and growth management.
Each session is delivered by a businessperson who is also an expert in that area because of their personal experience with their own business.
For example, the marketing session is led by Jenny Cross, founder of marketing agency, Cross Productions. Branding and funding is led by Cristian Zuzunaga whose company creates a range of fashion and homewares using textile designs.
Interior designer Abigail Hall who creates high end interiors shares her expertise in business and change management.
Sonia Baigent, chair of the Business Gateway board, said: “It’s so important to nurture new business ideas in order to keep our economy vibrant and evolving.
“To do that, you have to make sure that the people with these ideas receive the very best support at the start of their journey, within a creative and stimulating environment.
Most Read
“That’s what we’re getting with the Crucible programme.
“We know that one of the things that differentiates DMU’s approach is their focus on the individual.
“As well as providing the essential business foundations, the Crucible team really build people’s confidence, resilience and belief in themselves as entrepreneurs who can succeed.
“Some 85 per cent of the businesses launched through Crucible over the last five years are still going.”
Percy Emmett, director of DMU’s MBA programmes, who oversees The Crucible, said: “We are thrilled to partner with the Business Gateway to support Leicestershire’s SMEs.
“Businesses will have workshops with our team of experienced trainers who are all businesspeople with years of experience across a range of sectors.
“This will be supplemented with advice and mentoring through personal one-to-ones.
Don’t miss
“The Crucible is DMU’s flagship business start-up programme, and we are pleased that we are now able to offer our training to SMEs.
“Our philosophy at Crucible is to focus not just on the business idea, but on developing the resilience and confidence of these emerging entrepreneurs. That’s what’s really different about Crucible.”
Anyone interested in taking part in the Crucible Start-Up programme, which begins on February 24, should contact the Business Gateway on 0116 366 8487 or growthhub@bizgateway.org.uk.
Sign up for your free East Midlands newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn
Email newsletters
BusinessLive is your home for business news from across the East Midlands including Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
Click through here to sign up for our email newsletter and also view the broad range of other bulletins we offer including weekly sector-specific updates.
We will also send out 'Breaking News' emails for any stories which must be seen right away.
For all the latest stories, views and polls, follow our