April 2009 E-bulletin

BiG News

BiG Challenge – Shortlist revealed

Sheffield Council Leader visits Fir Vale School’s Budding Entrepreneurs

Digital 20/20 competition - Catering Company Wins £5000 Prize

Yorkshire Business Awards are just the plug for ‘Electric Village’

Events and marketing

BiG Client Success

MP Caroline Flint inspires Sheffield’s female entrepreneurs to think BiG

Success in the pipeline for Sheffield business woman

Ink and Steel

Sheffield businesswomen make a stand for gender equality at House of Commons

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the BiG: Make it your Business e-newsletter.

Exciting new developments across the programme are anticipated as we are hoping to secure funding from the European Regional Development Fund to allow us to expand our current enterprise offering across Sheffield. The £4.8 million bid is designed to expand the Neighbourhood Enterprise Coaches, Intensive Business and Specialist Support projects, specifically targeting new areas of the city along with those that made up the existing bid areas, and a cash injection into the procurement project and the enterprise activity in schools and colleges in Sheffield including the BiG Challenge competition.

We are also working closely with Sheffield City Council on their First Point for Business initiative, a one stop shop, based in the Town Hall, advising on running a business.

Recently BiG clients met and made a positive impression on MP Caroline Flint when she visited the Alison Business Crescent – so thank you to all involved. BiG Clients JD Approach also met MPs when they were invited to Westminster to advise on the number of women with skills to work in science, engineering and technology, which made front page news.

I am pleased to announce that we also have a winner of the Plug into Your Potential competition, run in conjunction with BT Local Business and Digital 20/20. Anne-Marie McManus of Heavenly Sandwiches has been awarded £5k worth of IT support to develop and grow her catering business.

Enterprise activity in schools and colleges across the city has seen the Sheffield Council Leader visit Fir Vale School. BiG have also sponsored Sheffield Hallam University’s enterprise competition.

Speaking of competitions, this month we have the build up to the BiG Challenge Awards 2009 at Cutlers Hall in Sheffield. Over 300 teams started up their own business this year, with 18 teams shortlisted and invited to present to the judges. I don’t know who they are but I can tell you we have a winning team selected from the shortlist and on the 29^th of April 2009, special guest Levi Roots will announce who this is.

I hope to see you at this wonderful evening and celebration of enterprise activity in Sheffield and more importantly find out who has won the BiG prize sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers– a trip to Paris!

David Grey

Group Managing Director

OSL Group Holdings Ltd

For further information on any of the stories above please contact Joanne Ash 0800 043 55 22 / Joanne.ash@sheffield.gov.uk