Alpkit: the huge impact of small grants, share offer success and sustainability

An interview with David Hanney, CEO of outdoor equipment manufacturer and retailer Alpkit, plus business and social enterprise funding opportunities and two book recommendations. David covers Alpkit’s Foundation, funded by the business and making small grants with huge impacts; Alpkit’s astonishing share offer success this week; the firm’s commitment to sustainability and its journey to […]

Resilience with Helen Williams, business and social enterprise support and a corker of a book review

Resilience tips from Helen Williams, big run-through of many support packages and grants now available for businesses, social enterprises and self-employed people, some of which have not been well publicised, and a review of Drayton Bird’s recent autobiography.

Interviews: business resilience despite uncertainty plus an award-winning charity

Ensure your business is protected, as far as possible, from the impact of uncertainty and learn from an accountant who has survived and thrived through five recessions (and helps his clients to do the same). Plus an award-winning charity has some great advice about how to engage and empower volunteers.

Creatives: listen to Lisa about pricing – and dealing with trolls

An interview with illustrator and designer, Lisa Maltby, full of invaluable advice about pricing and more. Plus Mike and Adam of social enterprise, RiteTrax. And updates including a new source of information about social investment.

Investors with a difference: Campus Capital interview

There’s a problem in venture capital. In the UK, VC-ready startups gravitate to where the money is: London (and to some extent Cambridge and Oxford). That’s led to a “tech funding gap in the North of England” – risking a brain drain of businesses seeking investment away from northern cities. Plus, VC decision makers invest […]

Business Live: StartUp bus, Race for Life, Kenya and finance

This morning’s Business Live radio show featured the director of the Centre for Entrepreneurs think-tank and of StartUp Britain; a Sheffield based credit union celebrating 20 years in business; the area organiser of the Race for Life and a social entrepreneur working in Kenya.

Ruth Lucas of Rovernighter interviewed

An in-depth live interview with Ruth Lucas of Rovernighter. Ruth discussed product development, design iteration, access to the market, funding, intellectual property, marketing, and sources of advice and support for entrepreneurs. In January Rovernighter was selected as the Virgin StartUp of the Week, and at the end of March the business was named by Theo Paphitis as a Small Business Sunday #SBS Award recipient.

JB Gill: popstar, farmer and entrepreneur on finding a business mentor

A popstar turned farmer, a CEO* at Microsoft UK, an assassin, some investors, a lawyer and a social entrepreneur: what do they have in common? They were all guests on today’s Business Live radio show.

The programme, broadcast this morning on Sheffield Live 93.FM and available as a podcast below, featured interviews recorded at this week’s MADE Entrepreneur Festival in Sheffield and the Critical Mass social and impact investment event in London.

And you can listen to the podcast of the programme here.

Renewable energy finance platform gets business award

09.07.2013 In March this year I organised, programmed and chaired a national conference, TownFunder, for client Action for Market Towns / TownsAlive. The event showed delegates from towns (and cities) how they could benefit from innovative new routes to fundraise, including crowdfunding and community share issues. So I was interested to learn that community finance […]

9 steps to social enterprise success

Thoroughly enjoyed running a 3-hour workshop for Sheffield Community Network yesterday (24/04/13) on setting up and running a social enterprise. What a diverse group – facing many similar issues, but also very specific ones. The ever-enthusiastic Andi Stamp – my co-presenter – and I made the workshop as interactive and focused on participants’ specific needs […]