A View from Boost! (March 2019!)

Wow, this might actually actually be on time, or at least timely!!!

Another month whizzes and whooshes by....zoom

So last month's notable shout outs (no particular order)

Informal meeting of support partners delivering to manufacturing businesses!

This is what it says on the tin, well done Pritam Pal for pulling together this group of people to explore how we all better collaborate and share our collective intelligence to maximise the opportunities available to our Lancashire Manufacturers, making sure that we get the support option right first time rather than a lottery of who you meet first! It was VERY pleasing to see everyone agreeing to share and collaborate in the best interests of the business rather than any internal programme needs - it really should not matter who you meet first as you embark on your support journey, whoever speaks to you will make sure you get the RIGHT support, each provider is already accountable back to you and is there to help you also understand the scope of the support available, the last thing any of us want is to find out later down the support journey that a different support journey was required to maximise your return on investment (time, money and resource). Thanks to Lancashire Manufacturing Growth Fund, Northern Automotive Alliance, North West Aerospace Alliance, Made Smarter, IN.4.0, Department for International Trade and the Business Relationship Management Service - I have a suspicion this will also swell with numbers, not least the Money in Space service!

Roses

Delighted to attend the launch of the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship. Many thanks to Heather Waters (NatWest) for allowing me to input a little to this review, always a useful and helpful nudge to highlight where our support is going and the challenge ahead of us! The key headline that if we do more to encourage female entrepreneurs it could potentially lead to a ￡250Bn windfall to the UK economy which is certainly a compelling narrative. The clear challenge to all of us working with businesses is simple (yet challenging) How can we make sure our services are compelling to EVERYONE and what changes do we need to consciously make to become a more inclusive service? Read the report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-alison-rose-review-of-female-entrepreneurship

Space

Had a fabulous meeting with Alan Cross from the STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council) - they literally have people that are desperate to work with you to understand the potential opportunities that working in space can bring - sounds exciting, and I'm sure there are lots of Lancashire businesses out there that would benefit from starting their #GrowthConversation with them!  "Working on behalf of the UK Space Agency, ‘Money in Space’ has the sole purpose of bringing together North West businesses to introduce them to the vast potential and exciting opportunities that Space offers. The benefits of working with the space sector aren’t limited to multinationals or those directly involved in the production of satellites or Mars Rovers. Our goal is to inspire a wide range of established businesses and enable them to grow the commercial opportunities that working in space will bring."

More details here: https://www.moneyinspace.co.uk/

TSB (the bank that likes ...)

Met up with the newly established regional manager at the TSB. Laura Kinghorn was already known to me through her fabulous work with Funding Circle and so I was delighted to meet up and discuss opportunities for collaborative working in her new role as she leads a team of relationship managers for the bank. We very quickly agreed that there is shared value in collaboration with our support services across Lancashire. First step is to help those relationship managers in Lancashire better understand the full force of the Boost offer in Lancashire and how it can add value to their on-going relationships with their customers - first stage is to meet with our Business Relationship Managers, but I know they are keen to talk as many other people as possible. I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes us! #GrowingLancashire

Red rose awards

How can I not mention this awesome celebration of our counties business community, over 1100 people attended this event at the Winter Gardens and there was an amazing atmosphere, I always leave hoarse from speaking to so many people BUT also guilty for all the people I did not speak with, mostly as I browse twitter and see people who I really should have at least waved too! (Apologies if you felt snubbed)

Here are the winners: https://www.redroseawards.co.uk/event/finalists

Northern power women awards

Another awards ceremony, but this one, ohhhhh this one! Such a different experience to the others that I usually attend (this is not disrespectful, I love all celebrations), the headline for me was the celebratory nature of the awards, genuinely just a room of people celebrating everyone else's achievements (big and small) but also I have literally never been to an award ceremony where you actually listen to the people on stage, at times you could hear a pin drop! This was more than awards for the "best" people/business, this was a genuine celebration and a large part of the evening was dedicated to celebrating all the amazing activity taking place around the region - there's a lot to be proud of and there's a ton of good practice out there to inspire and motivate us. This is what they do "We engage women and men from all industries and business areas as ‘agents of change’ and connect, collaborate and celebrate their achievements as campaign champions and advocates to drive gender balance from the north of England"

Here are the winners: https://www.northernpowerwomen.com/awards/

Apologies this is a little more wordy than normal, I think I have got carried away by my enthusiasm (I deleted two other "notables" to try and stop boring you!)

If you have received great support tell a friend, if you have yet to start your Boost journey, get in touch, what you waiting for!!! #GrowthConversation #GrowingLancashire #WeAreLancashire

Podcast tip, I love this and look forward to it dropping in on my podcast playlist every month, they have also had an honourable mention already, it's the Northern Power Women Podcast  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/northern-power-women-podcast/id1250023032?mt=2 Just listen to it, each month they hold a half hour discussion with a live panel (usually three people) on the biggest current issues within business, they then do an in-depth interview with an inspiring individual at the top of their game, including honest reflection on the sometimes less successful decisions made along the way.

Finally, and very randomly, if you can, Give blood!!! I get frustrated I can only donate three times a year, so instead I will try and encourage a few others to give a pint of their red stuff!  https://www.blood.co.uk/

Be Amazing