Boost Bulletin (Dec 2019) Gliding out of 2019 and speeding into 2020 (Woohooooo)

Once again, even in December I have had to cull a long list down to a more manageable number, otherwise you wouldn't read it, although I have a feeling this might also be a little too long (I think I say this every time)

Guide Curry club: I am so grateful for the perseverance of the fabulous Bipin Patel, the diary never seemed to connect, but I was resolute that I was going to attend at least one this year and I'm so glad I did. It's such a simple concept, a bunch of great people all get together and encourage others to come along, you pay for your meal, network, meet some new people, share a few stories, listen to a few highlights and leave with a belly full and a few new contacts – it's just very sound networking. A few of us even sloped off for a tea after the evening had finished. Networking at its finest

https://www.guidesecurity.co.uk/social-value/curry-night-2/

Wyre business awards: As you know I love all awards, anything to celebrate the wonderful businesses within Lancashire, this can never be a bad thing. The Wyre awards is always a well curated and intimate affair, lots of time, thought, passion and commitment is thrown into making this a night to remember for all the businesses in the Wyre area, a wonderful celebration. How many awards have the whole audience up on their feet waving their napkins, dancing and singing along with the half time entertainment? Great work to the whole team at Wyre, every LA should explore this as a strategy to better support and create meaningful relationships with their local business community (and I know a lot do) it just makes sense to me.

https://www.wyre.gov.uk/info/200358/business_support_and_advice/1075/wyre_business_awards_2019

Magma: I cannot really remember a time when I have not known Magma, Jeremy and Pricilla have always been in my business world, but it's funny how this comfort sometimes stops the conversations about the ACTIVITY of the NOW from happening, mostly because I simply ASSUME they have happened! To this end delighted that we have made the time to sit, talk and share, and more delighted that they are now fully fledged Boost&Co partners (I'd have bet lots of money that they already were, I would have lost!!!).

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/boost-and-co/magma-digital/

I've got the power! : Another blast from the past, thanks Angela Kershaw for inviting me along to a tour of the Heysham PowerStation (EDF). Me and Martyn have known each other for ages, but the obligatory tour has always eluded, however  this was a nice way to explore how we can better work together, local supply chains, and of course energy. So how do we take forward some of these things? The climate agenda is hugely impactful on business so hopefully lots to come, in the interim if you want a tour, let me know (or Martyn).

https://www.edfenergy.com/energy/education/visitor-centres/heysham-visitor-centre

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/support/chamber-low-carbon/

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/support/making-carbon-work-macaw/

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/support/low-carbon-innovation-forum/

Strawberry fields: the new kid on the block! A magnificent space in Chorley dedicated to the digital sector. It's absolutely massive and a huge thank you to Rachel Salter and Emma Meichan for showing me around, if you have not been, well worth a visit

https://strawberryfieldshub.com/

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/boost-and-co/chorley-council/

Landmark! Huge thanks to Patrick Byrne for taking time out to show both myself and Amin around this new (old school house) venue in Burnley, this provides high quality workspace, meeting rooms and event space. More particular to Paddy's role at the eagle labs is the support offer for start-up businesses to grow and scale, facilitated through Barclays. So many opportunities for collaboration and with the venture being fairly new there was a lot of information sharing, looking forward to amplifying and sharing stories, first task though is to get Burnley on the eagle labs website!!!

https://landmarkburnley.co.uk/

https://labs.uk.barclays/

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/boost-and-co/burnley-council/

Two/Zero ! WHATS THAT? I hear you cry! It's only our new scale up pilot, very passionately and purposely managed by our very own Amin Vepari. If you are a food and drink, social enterprise or female scale up business, this might just be the pilot you are looking for! You must already have been in business for three years and be able to demonstrate continued grow for the past two/three years AND be passionately committed to continuing this growth journey but if this is you (and you are in Lancashire) then get in touch with either myself or Amin to discuss next steps and we can put you in contact with our service providers. Just before Christmas we all got together to make sure that this pilot is as collaborative, supportive and brilliant as it can possibly be, as well as making sure that we MAKE SURE that each business we speak with gets the right support, wherever and by whoever delivers it! The new branding for this will be going live almost as I type, so watch this space (I've also seen some pre activity from our delivery partners, who are just chomping at the bit to talk with you).

Website coming soon…

Boost partnership event: the second one! All of our amazing publically funded business support partners were there, 60 plus people, all with one simple and clear instruction… to help #Lancashire businesses grow! (Ups that is way to reductive, but hopefully you get my gist!)  Anyway this time round we brought in an external facilitator to help us all better understand/articulate our niche support offers and how we better communicate where our support fits (and benefits) within the Lancashire ecosystem, so that we can bring to life the support journeys that our business in Lancashire can expect so we get the greatest impact from each program and make sure we get the right support plugged into your business first time, irrespective of who you meet because we are all aware of where our offers create greatest impact but also have an awareness of everyone else's great support programs! (World's longest sentence!!!).  As ever if in doubt you can always just defer (or default) to our Business Relationship Management Service!  – We want it to be as easy as possible to find the right support at the right time as you grow your business in Lancashire. Next stage of these partnership events will to include our private sector partners. Thanks to Anne Williamson for so brilliantly facilitating the morning's activities and helping our partners get really granular on their specific niche of support help. We even ended on a celebratory Christmas buffet!!!  These face to face catch-up sessions are essential if the GROWTH HUB is to be truly collaborative and able to "focus in" the RIGHT support to enable your business to flourish. It's so pleasing to see everyone sharing, collaborating and celebrating each other's activities, but there is, of course, more to do. The Boost website was a topic of interest, can it be improved and how? (Thoughts welcome).

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/support/business-relationship-management/

https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/