Mentoring and Enterprise Monthly

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December 2015

Welcome to the IOEE Newsletter

Welcome to this festive edition of Enterprise and Mentoring Monthly!
It’s also the last of 2015 and we’re certainly going out on a high; December’s issue is packed with fantastic news and announcements, uplifting events and talented people.

All our December stories are bursting with enterprising energy, intriguing opportunities and a healthy sprinkling of Christmas sparkle.

Excellence in Mentoring Awards for IOEE
mentors and mentees

On 17 November, the MentorsMe Excellence in Mentoring Awards took place at the Digital Catapult Centre in London. It was an excellent event that saw over 100 mentees, mentors and mentoring organisations come together to acknowledge the importance of enterprise mentoring and celebrate the individuals raising the bar.
We are very proud to say that two IOEE mentor/mentees were recognised for their outstanding work. Cleo Morris of MarketingMaker was named Start-up Business of the year along with her mentor Oliver Morris (no relation) from Lloyds Bank, and Denise Kay of Barclays Bank won the title of Best Bank Mentor.

IOEE represented at
AoC conference

From 17-19 November, the Association of Colleges (AoC) held its annual conference and exhibition at the ICC Birmingham. IOEE were thrilled to be able to exhibit this year and Sarah Trouten, CEO of IOEE, announced the launch of our fantastic collaboration with TONI&GUY – Creating Enterprise, a completely new learning programme designed specifically for budding entrepreneurs operating in the creative industries.

Read full story here.

Global Entrepreneurship Week

This year, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) took place from 16 - 22 November and we marked each day in true IOEE style, with plenty of enthusiasm and innovation!

Everyday we made a key announcement on our Twitter account @TheIOEE to IOEE members and
non-members alike!

Read more.

SFEDI Directory

“Being listed in the SFEDI Directory is a badge of honour, a credibility requirement that lets us show we’re up to speed with what’s going on, we know how to do it and we do it well.”

The SFEDI Directory, as you probably know by now, is a national register of SFEDI accredited business and enterprise support professionals. It exists to enable businesses to check the credentials of support professionals whose services they’re thinking of accessing. For some years, the SFEDI Directory was in a dormant state, but now it’s back, bigger and better than ever before. We caught up with one user who told us why this can only be good news for the country’s entrepreneurial communities.

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SFEDI and EEUK create standards for Enterprise E ducators

SFEDI, working in partnership with Enterprise Educators UK, is currently developing a set of professional standards for enterprise and entrepreneurship educators.

Read full story.

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Black Friday offer is a great success

For the first time, this year the IOEE got into the Black Friday spirit and extended a fabulous offer to new and existing members. We gave our members the chance to upgrade or start a membership at a generous 20% discount and lots of people seized the opportunity. Feedback from new members that took advantage of the offer informed us that for new businesses carefully managing their cash-flow this small incentive was instrumental in their decision to join. Look out for our member blogs launching in the new year!

Autumn Statement Round-up

On 25 November, the government published both its Autumn Statement and Spending Review. Much of the news was concerned with small and micro businesses, with changes to tax, grants, loans, apprenticeships and a huge BIS budget reduction all set to impact on the UK’s entrepreneurial communities.

Here, we’ve created a quick round-up of the news you need know.

#MicroBizMattersDay 2016

On 8 January 2016,over one million micro business owners, at least 80% from the UK, will be giving eight minutes (or more) of their time to help other micro business owners survive and thrive. Hundreds of activities are taking place online and offline in micro business communities, during this annual day of Recognition, Action and Learning.

Find out more or get involved in #MicroBizMattersDay .

NEW IOEE CHALLENGES

Get Started Challenge 2016

Our members tell us time and time again that the very beginning of an enterprise journey is the hardest part. Setting up a business is fraught with challenges, from securing the finance and fine-tuning the idea to getting the word out and winning those first few vital clients. Central to every successful start-up is a carefully considered, detailed and well-researched business plan. That’s why the Get Started Challenge is so close to our hearts.

Find out more here.

Switch on to the Lightbulb Challenge

The IOEE is inviting enterprise educators working in IOEE Centres the length and breadth of the country to take the Lightbulb Challenge. Using their skill, ingenuity and dynamism, teachers, lecturers and other education professionals will spark their students to have an ‘enterprising lightbulb moment’ within their learning programme.

Want to know more about the Lightbulb Challenge? Click here.

ENTERPRISE ACTIVITIES

Dave Roberts, Lloyds Bank Enterprise Mentor Champion

Dave Roberts has worked for Lloyds Banking Group for almost thirty years and has committed himself to mentoring in a big way, investing in the process with real energy and enthusiasm at every stage. Here, Dave tells his own story of mentoring SMEs, mentoring fellow Lloyds Banking Group enterprise mentors and performing the role of Enterprise Mentor Champion.

Read Dave's story here.

“When you want something so much, sometimes you must push yourself out of your comfort zone for the sake of your business.”

It’s been an extremely busy few months for owner manager of The Wedding Planners Guild, Yvonne Bennett. As well as being invited to join SparkUp, a business acceleration programme in her home city of Liverpool, the entrepreneur has also been shortlisted for a prestigious business award. In her fifth blog for the IOEE, she tells us all her exciting news.

Read full story.

From City life to CaseStudyNinja.com

Sarah Dillingham, who has two decades of experience running enterprise information projects in the City and for central government, has now established tech start-up company CaseStudyNinja.com in Beckenham, South London. She attended the London GEO Meet a Mentor event in October 2015 on the lookout for a mentor, with a view to gaining some guidance in attracting funding. We caught up with Sarah to find
out what she took from the event.

APPRENTICEMAKERS

Apprenticemakers Pilot Apprenticeships Champion Training

Increasingly, apprenticeships are forming a core element of SMEs’ recruitment strategies, across all sectors. However, these are relatively early days for the apprenticeship renaissance. That’s why SFEDI Group’s dedicated apprenticeship branch, Apprenticemakers, is launching a comprehensive suite of exciting, practical and wide-reaching training courses for everyone involved in apprenticeships. From current apprenticemakers to SMEs, training providers to business support professionals and apprentices themselves, there really is something for everyone.

Find out what’s on offer here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The IOEE team would like to thank you for your ongoing support throughout 2015 and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


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