Testimonials

Read some of the comments from previous participants on the courses.

We both enjoyed the start-up course and learned a great deal. It conveyed some very valuable knowledge and information. We felt much more confident that we could run our own business successfully. Issues of tax and finance were demystified, whilst the ideas for marketing and business planning were invaluable.

Can I just take this opportunity to formally thank you and your team for all the superb work you have done to support us, and many hundreds of people like us, in setting up our business. We found the information invaluable. Setting up a business and becoming self-employed for the first time is very daunting. To have such expertise as yours available and in the manner you are able to provide it has, we’re sure, enabled many of us to start trading with confidence and ensured a successful future.

Anyone who is new to running a small business will understand the massive learning curve that will be encountered in so many diverse areas of business. In an instant, the new owner is expected to know and understand bookkeeping, accounting, taxation, health and safety regulation, recruitment, employment law, management of customers, suppliers and employees, customer service, marketing and PR, office IT, the technicalities of websites, social media and so on … and on top of that, to be able to create a product or service that people want to buy. It is a hugely daunting prospect and a massive mountain to climb! Having just sold our 20-year-old business as a going concern supporting 12 employees and exporting handmade products worldwide, we are eternally grateful for practical support and encouragement. It has helped and supported numerous businesses in our area, many of which have been able to withstand recessions and endure turbulent economic instability to grow into strong and robust enterprises. It gave us confidence to grow as individuals and to learn the skills we needed to create a prosperous business able to make a positive contribution to our local economy.