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Social entrepreneurs sought for award

Business news Tagged with:
Sep 082010

UnLtd is a charity that supports “social entrepreneurs”, offering a variety of support and sometimes funding.

It recently launched the UnLtd Engage awards programme , of which more below.

Applications close on the 30th of September 2010, and you must be located in England or Wales. Nesta (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is already operating a similar programme called Age Unlimited in Scotland, which will re-open for new applications in 2011.

We’re not sure how relevant either programme is to the majority of people seeking to launch their own businesses to provide themselves with a sustainable livelihood. If you just want to make a crust to support yourself and your dependents you are probably not a social entrepreneur. Awards too can be problematic – they can be a diversion of effort from the finding the main thing that makes a genuine business viable – customers willing to pay for your product or service.

However, here are some details of the UnLtd Engage awards programme in case it fits in with your plans. The money on offer may not be large, but the networking opportunities could be very valuable if you want to make headway in the world of the “social entrepreneur”. See UnLtd’s Facebook page facebook.com/UnLtd for more of a flavour of what they do.

UnLtd Engage

UnLtd and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation have teamed up to encourage individuals to bring about positive change in our attitudes and approaches to getting older and to create solutions that will make a lasting difference to our ageing population.

What is available?

30 Start-Up Awards are available of up to £2,500 to get your idea off the ground.

3 Development Awards of up to £15,000 will also be offered to 3 UnLtd Engage Award Winners to grow and replicate their ideas.

What are we looking for?

Do you have an idea that could improve the social issues faced by older people in your community that falls within one or more of these themes?
* Inspiring self-belief and wellbeing (including ageing well, health & safety and keeping active)
* Making the most of opportunities (including planning for change, work and volunteering)
* Valuing shared wisdom and experience (including reducing isolation and building positive perceptions and relationships)

Your project must not:
Be part of your paid employment
Involve political or religious campaigning
Involve activities outside the law or against public policy, or anything that encourages ethnic, religious or commercial disharmony
Involve employing people other than yourself to carry out most of the project work
Be used mainly to achieve academic qualifications
Be used to fund living expenses

Who can apply?
We are looking particularly for applications from individuals or informal groups who are aged over 50 from England & Wales and have the passion and ideas to create social change.

How do I find out more?

Go to the Engage Awards page on the UnLtd web site.
If you need more information on the Awards programme, please call 0845 850 1122 and ask to speak to a member of the UnLtd Engage team in your area or email annabelsampson@unltd.org.uk

Posted by Ian Stobie at Wednesday PM, 8th September 2010 No Responses »

Recovering from redundancy in the East Midlands

Events Tagged with: ,
Sep 082010

emblem of university of northamptonIf you have recently been made redundant in the East Midlands then 3e, a joint venture between the University of Northampton and Social Enterprise East Midlands, may be able to help. The organisation is offering a free course in conjunction with the University that leads to a Post Graduate Certificate in Management (PGCM).

The course is part-time, so it should not interfere with any out-of-work benefits you are receiving. The programme runs until March next year and you don’t have to live in any particular place to qualify – though you do need to be able to attend Northampton University (in Northampton) for the workshops.

More details of eligibility for this programme, and other help available for older people facing redundancy in the area at the 3e web site, or call 3e on 01536 527440.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Wednesday PM, 8th September 2010 No Responses »

Get Your Business Online in Birmingham

Events Tagged with: ,
Sep 082010

Go to www.gbbo.co.ukGoogle is hosting a Build your own website event in Birmingham.
Date: Thursady 30th September 2010, 6.30pm to 8.30pm 
Venue: The Custard Factory, 30 Floodgate Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B9 4AA
View map and directions
Status: PRIME supported event

Google UK’s Managing Director Matt Brittin will host an exclusive event for businesses in Birmingham and the West Midlands. Together with Angela Maxwell from Advantage West Midlands, he’ll be discussing Google’s initiative to help ‘Get British Businesses Online‘, where with BT and Paypal, they have made getting a website quick, simple and free. You’ll learn why every business needs a website – and how to get one free in just twenty minutes!

The event is free but places are limited. To see more information about the event and to book your place click here

Posted by Philippa Wickham at Wednesday PM, 8th September 2010 No Responses »

PRIME Business Club Olderpreneur Newsletter for September 2010

Announcements Tagged with:
Sep 032010

Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 5:41 PM
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T h e    O l d e r p r e n e u r
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News for older entrepreneurs from The PRIME Initiative

Welcome to PRIME Business Club’s September 2010 newsletter. You are receiving this entirely free because you contacted PRIME, the charity set up by Prince Charles, about starting your own business.

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In this issue
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1. FREE PRIME events in London, Birmingham and Bournemouth

2. Free and low-cost exhibitions around the UK

3. PRIME has a new look website

4. Offers round-up

5. About our other newsletter

6. Newsletter controls

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1. FREE PRIME events in London, Birmingham and Bournemouth
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In London we are at the British Library Business and IP Centre on Thursday 30th September 2010. There will be one session in the afternoon and one in the early evening.

http://www.primebusinessclub.com/2010/07/starting-a-business-in-london-2/

In Birmingham we are coming to the Birmingham Central Library on the 28th of October and running two sessions there.

http://www.primebusinessclub.com/2010/08/starting-a-business-in-birmingham/

These are short programmes aimed at people still thinking about whether to go ahead and start a business.

More cities coming soon…

In Bournemouth PRIME is running a Free computer skills training day for over 50s.

There are only three FREE places left to book onto this PRIME event. To secure yourself one of them click on the link below.
http://www.primebusinessclub.com/2010/07/free-computer-skills-training-day-in-bournemouth-for-over-50s/

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2. Free and low-cost exhibitions around the UK
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The National Franchise Exhibition is at the NEC in Birmingham on the 1st and 2nd of October 2010. Tickets cost around £8.  To find out more click on the link below.
http://www.primebusinessclub.com/2010/09/the-national-franchise-exhibition-birmingham/

The Business Startup show is at London’s Earls Court on the 30th of  November and 1st of  December. It’s free. To find out more and order free tickets click on the link.
http://www.primebusinessclub.com/2010/09/business-startup-show-london-2/

For round up of upcoming events this month go to http://www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/category/events/

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3. PRIME’s new look website
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We’re using the summer holiday season to make improvements to our web site. So far we’ve moved to a new host, upgraded to the latest version of the content management system WordPress, and switched to a more modern site design.

http://www.primebusinessclub.com/2010/09/welcome-to-our-new-look-web-site/

We hope the brighter magazine-style layout will make everything easier to find. The transformation is almost complete, but there will still be a few glitches, so please bear with us.

For example, the forums, text-to-speech service and accessibility controls aren’t working yet. The resources area – which includes hundreds of pages of useful information is now working again, including the latest stories added yesterday. But it looks a bit of a mess as it hasn’t been styled yet to look like the rest of the site.

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4. Offers round-up
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PRIME has put a number of exclusive and useful offers on the PRIME Business Club website over the last few weeks. Listed below are a few recent ones that are still going. Click on the link to find out more about these offers and other ones like them.

To find out more go to: http://www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/category/offers/

Get 30 per cent off the annual cost of a Virtual Office from voxclever -
PRIME has negotiated an exclusive discount for PRIME Business Club members.

A virtual office allows you to make use of an office address and all the facilities associated with it, at a fraction of the price you would pay for a full rental. You can get your business calls answered and your post opened without having to pay for a full-time member of staff. This leaves you with more time to run your business.

Cheap and simple ways to set up a business website -

Click on the link below to see an update on two offers to help you set up your business website.

Getting British Business Online – This is the free basic business website backed by the government with technology and hosting from Google and BT.

Mr Site- This is a paid-for product for which PRIME has just renewed an offer of 40 per cent discount for PRIME Business Club visitors.

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5. About our other newsletter
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This newsletter – The Olderpreneur, is written in-house by us. You should also be receiving a weekly newsletter called PRIME Business Update. This is written by PracticeWeb, a firm whose expert tax and business writers provide the content for the newsletters of many British accounting firms. We have a contract to syndicate this professional content, and to provide it to PRIME Business Club members like you free of charge. However, since we can’t afford to pay extra to customise this content in great detail, please ignore any of it that implies PRIME is an accounting firm eager to do your accounts for you or sell you other professional services.

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6. Newsletter controls
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This email was sent by prime@ageuk.org.uk
To no longer receive our emails, just
send an email to prime@ageuk.org.uk
with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

To ensure that you continue to receive emails from
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Copyright (c) 2010, The PRIME Initiative
Astral House, 1268 London Road, London SW16 4ER

The PRIME Initiative is a registered charity (No. 261794-2) linked to the National Council on Ageing and a company registered in England (No. 4184314).

Posted by Ian Stobie at Friday PM, 3rd September 2010 Comments Off

The National Franchise Exhibition – Birmingham

Events Tagged with: ,
Sep 032010

The National Franchise Exhibition  is going to be  at the NEC in Birmingham on the 01st & 02nd of October 2010. It is the main franchise exhibition in the UK and the only one to be officially supported by the British Franchise Association.

The exhibitor list includes McDonald’s, Thorntons, Subway and a host of smaller franchisors.

Tickets cost £8 for one and £7 if you buy more than one.

Click on the link below to find out more and book your tickets.

http://www.franchiseinfo.co.uk/exhibition-sub/national-franchise-exhibition-2010

Posted by Faye Banerjee at Friday PM, 3rd September 2010 No Responses »

City Business Library events – London

Events Tagged with: ,
Sep 032010

City of London logo by WikiLaurent at Wiki Media Commons

The City Business Library in London is a public reference library specialising in current business information which is intended to be of practical use. The Library has a large programme of free and low cost events covering a wide range of topics. All events are free and take place at City Business Library unless otherwise stated.

Here are some of the upcoming events:

Becoming self employed
Thursday 9 September 2010
2.15 – 4.15pm
Talk

Becoming self-employed? In partnership with City Business Library, staff from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs will talk about the tax and National Insurance implications of becoming self-employed.
Free, but you must book in advance

Growing your business through your customers and better service
Tuesday 14 September 2010
10.30 -12.00noon
Seminar

Your customers are your most important asset in any business. In this seminar, Adrian Swinscoe will share with you some practical, proven and positive tips and strategies to improve customer retention, boost referrals and decrease your marketing spend.
Free – but you must book in advance

How to use social media for business
Friday 17 September 2010
2.30 – 4.30pm
Presentation

This presentation will show you how to effectively use social media to grow your business and engage with your target market. Cemanthe Harries of New Media Angels will cover the Big 5 networks for business, look at trends and 8 key points to remember when using social media, as well as case studies which illustrate how small businesses are using it well and ways to manage your time.
Free, but you must book in advance

Database training – Research your market
Thursday 23 September 2010
10.30 -11.30am

Find out about your market sector or one you want to move into, about major players, trends and forecasts. In our purpose built training room, City Business Library staff will help you use our subscription databases with ample hands-on time for you to do your own searches.
Free, but you must book in advance

Cash is KING – keep the cash flowing
Friday 24 September 2010
10.00am – 12.00noon
Workshop

Do you sometimes go overdrawn? Have you ever had to hold back payments that are due? Have you ever had to bounce a cheque? Do you wonder why despite the business growing well cash still seems to be tight?
If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you MUST attend the Cash is King workshop. Bambo Onigbanjo of Platinum Integrations will help you better understand the unique characteristics of cash and how effective handling can stop any of the above happening.
Bambo will look at:

  • Financial ratios and their impact on your cash flow
  • Implications of business strategy on cash flow
  • Risk Management
  • Cash flow management exercises and selecting external cash sources
  • Negotiating with funding providers

Free, but you must book in advance

Introduction to VAT
Thursday 30 September 2010
2.15 – 4.15pm

In partnership with City Business Library, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs staff will help those not already registered for VAT understand when to register and how to account for and monitor their VAT turnover.
Free, but you must book in advance.

Click here to find out more information about the events programme at the Library and to book your place.

Posted by Faye Banerjee at Friday PM, 3rd September 2010 No Responses »

Business Startup Show – London

Events Tagged with:
Sep 032010

Date: Tuesday 30 November 2010 - Wednesday 01 December 2010

Time: 10am to 5pm both days

 Venue: Earls Court, Warwick Road, London, SW5 9TA

Business Startup 2010 is a large event with 200 exhibitors and a programme of over 140 free seminars. Both the show and the seminars are free. You can order tickets online at www.bstartup.com, or phone 0800 328 0467.

  Venue details

Posted by Faye Banerjee at Friday PM, 3rd September 2010 No Responses »
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