Mar 18 2011 4:00PM
UCS has now hosted a number of drop-in sessions for anybody who has aspirations of starting their own business, or developing their fledgling business further. ‘Enterprise Tuesdays’ are held on a Tuesday evening once a month between 5.00pm and 7.30pm in the foyer of UCS’ Waterfront Building in Ipswich with key industry experts on hand to give free advice to budding entrepreneurs in a relaxed and informal setting.
The scheme is headed up by Dr Steve Barnes, a lecturer in Entrepreneurship at UCS, and is supported by mentors from Innovation Martlesham, a new Business Incubator at Adastral Park. Companies within the incubator benefit from the expertise and experience of group of business mentors, with backgrounds in a wide range of disciplines, to provide support in areas such as business strategy, marketing and financial modelling. It’s this group of mentors who will be available to offer advice at the drop-in sessions with no commitment and or cost involved for those who attend. One recent visitor has since registered their business as a result of coming along to one of the mentor sessions.
A key strength of the Innovation Martlesham approach is that many of the mentors have been through similar experiences to those enterprises they are now supporting, so can recognise the pitfalls that can await a nascent business. Such practical ‘grass roots’ advice and support, built on real-world experience, aims to give the incubator’s occupants a fully rounded set of business skills.
The three companies already resident within the Innovation Martlesham incubator at Adastral Park include Disect systems|, OXEMS (Oxford Electromagnetic Solutions)|, a spin-out from Oxford University, and Halogence|.
David Heatley, Technical Director, Disect Systems, said: “Within the last six months, Disect Systems has gone from strength to strength within the Innovation Martlesham Incubator. Disect has recently appointed a new CEO, Derek Brinkley whose impressive skill set and experience was recommended by the mentors.”
At present, there are few places in Suffolk offering a free one-to-one expert advice service to budding entrepreneurs. UCS provides the ideal setting for open and unbiased discussion about business ideas with experienced mentors, who have either started their own business or been instrumental in helping others start theirs. The sessions are open to anyone interested who has a business idea they would like to discuss.
The events take place on the first Tuesday in each month, between 5.00pm and 7.30pm in the foyer of UCS’ Waterfront Building in Ipswich.
For further details of the drop in sessions, please contact Dr Steve Barnes; s.barnesucs.ac.uk|.
For further information about Innovation Martlesham, please contact Claire Barrett on 07757 503263.