News 

New enterprise programme for north London

Date: 27 Feb 2007

A significant proportion of the north London workforce, particularly within the Upper Lee Valley boroughs of Haringey, Waltham Forest and Enfield, experience high levels of worklessness and economic inactivity. Claimant rates for adults in some areas is at, or above 50%.

Despite these barriers, the presence of untapped sources of entrepreneurship in deprived communities within north London, is confirmed by research conducted by London Borough of Haringey. It suggests that the informal economy may represent 20-30% of GDP within the borough.

A new LDA Business London start-up and micro business support and skills development programme called North London Pathways to Enterprise, aims to tackle these barriers and utilise this untapped entrepreneurial potential.

North London Pathways to Enterprise (P2E) will provide localised specialised services to individuals, encouraging them to think about routes into enterprise and provide support and advice to help them get off the ground. In particular, urging young people including ex-offenders and those leaving care, BAME communities, women and disabled people. All services are free and will be delivered by SFEDI accredited advisors.

The services on offer will be tailored to individual business needs and include:

• Full business analysis
• Bespoke one-to-one support
• Mentoring
• Business planning and review
• Workshops on finance, marketing and all other major business functions
• Networking events designed to increase local business to business interaction and trading
• Best business practice guides

William Clark, P2E programme manager from Urban Futures said: “This programme will provide much needed support to north London residents and budding entrepreneurs. North London has the highest concentration of small firms in the capital where 91.5% of all businesses employ 10 people or less. Therefore, the focus is on supporting micro businesses, particularly those in sectors with the most growth potential. These include wholesale and retail, high-value manufacturing, construction, creative industries, food and drink, transport and logistics, clothing, leisure and hospitality.

Another major focus of the programme is to promote skills development options to SMEs. Skills levels within north London residents are concentrated at the higher and lower ends of the spectrum (NVQ1 or below and NVQ3 and above), which has meant that many medium-range jobs created in north London require skills greater than those available from the local workforce, whilst those residents with higher skills often seek employment outside north London. By up-skilling local people, we can fuel economic growth of the area.“

All services are funded by the LDA through the European Social Fund. The programme will be managed by Urban Futures and delivered in partnership with Enfield Enterprise, HBDA, InBiz Ltd, Keeping It Simple Training, Prevista and TGEC Enterprise Services.

For more information or to register interested in receiving support, visit http://www.pathwaystoenterprise.org.uk/ or call 020 8352 5900.

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