Hunt for the East Midlands most enterprising place has started

March 11, 2010 - PRLog -- The search for the East Midlands most enterprising place is now on. Launched last week (5th March 2010), the Enterprising Britain 2010 competition rewards those cities, villages, towns and neighbourhoods that have tackled the economic downturn head on and are successfully creating jobs, boosting local business and nurturing entrepreneurial talent as the UK emerges from the recession.

Last year, Ashfield Skills Centre was named the East Midlands most enterprising place in the regional stage of the competition and went on to be crowned national runner up. TV Dragon and Chair of Enterprise UK, Peter Jones, paid tribute to the school for its focus on specific skills gaps and the regeneration of the local area. The Centre opened in 2007 and already 173 individuals have been helped in starting their own businesses, creating 49 new enterprises.

Joan Smalley of the Ashfield Skills Centre at Ashfield School said:  “It’s been a huge honour for Ashfield School to win the title of the East Midlands most enterprising place in 2009 and go forward to represent the East Midlands at national level. There were incredibly strong bids from elsewhere in the UK so the competition was tough and we were pleased to walk away as a national runner-up. The competition offered us a great opportunity to showcase our key achievements since opening just two years ago, and has helped to encourage local people to get involved in enterprise, make their ideas happen and enthuse the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Enterprising Britain has been running since 2005. This year is the first time it has expanded to five categories which are: Enterprise Culture, Driving Entrepreneurial Skills, Business Support and Start-up, Global Entrepreneurship, and Social Cohesion. Organisations can enter any or all of the categories and regional winners go on to the national finals later in the year.

To mark the launch of Enterprising Britain, Lord Davies, Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Small Business visited last year’s winner, Lowestoft in the East of England to discover how it succeeded in encouraging enterprising activity and self-employment.

Lord Davies said: “Entrepreneurship was crucial to moving the economy back into growth and our future prosperity also rests on encouraging talented Britons to develop their ideas.

“Enterprising Britain is a great opportunity to showcase communities who have come together to build better futures and inspire others to follow their example.”

The Enterprising Britain competition is a key part of the Government’s drive to create the right conditions for enterprise across the UK. It seeks out areas which have embedded a culture of supporting and encouraging their entrepreneurs and businesses.

Andrew Morgan, Skills and Communities Director at East Midlands Development Agency (emda) – which is supporting this year’s campaign, said: “Entering the Enterprising Britain competition is the region’s opportunity to promote our achievements and share our successes with other organisations and communities both in the East Midlands and on a national stage. I would urge everyone in the region who has used an entrepreneurial spirit to transform their area to get involved.”

The East Midlands has a strong track record in the competition, with Ashfield Skills Centre achieving runner-up last year (2009), the Welland Sub-regional Strategic Partnership (SSP) securing a prestigious award at the European finals of the competition in 2006, and Sherwood Energy Village winning the Enterprising Britain competition in 2005.

Enterprising Britain is free to enter and is open to all organisations that are working in partnership to create an enterprising place. The place can be a town, a city, a parish or a neighbourhood and organisations must demonstrate that enterprise is central to the economic and/or social transformation of the place.  

To register interest email Jennifer.delaney@themarketingdivision.co.uk.  Entries must be submitted by 31 May 2010 and the winner will be announced in October 2010.  

Application forms can be downloaded from www.enterpriseuk.org/enterprisingbritain

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