Page 3 - SME Toolkit: YP 2020 Covid-19 Edition

AD:VENTURE: University launches a
virtual version ofits popular accelerator to
provide a boost to business recovery.
eeds Beckett University
is urging the regions
young businesses to sign
up for the third cohort of
its popular accelerator
programme.
Launching in late July,
ACCELERATE has been reshaped
DEDICATED
TO SUCCESS
■ Launched in 2017
ADVENTURE provides
dedicated funded support
to eligible pre-start,young
and new businesses
which have strong growth
ambitions. The programme
offers a comprehensive
and innovative mix of
tailored business support to
boost growth and develop
businesses in their early
years.
■ ADVENTURE will
enable businesses
to grow in capability,
credibility, confidence and
competence. Support
available includes: expert
mentoring, grants,
professional workshops,
finance brokerage,
incubator office space,
director networks
and specialist sector
advice.
■ ADVENTURE funding
and delivery partners are
from across the Leeds City
Region.
Kirstie Frenneaux, project
manager at Leeds Beckett
University, says: “In these
uncertain times, we want to
help businesses regain focus,
provide them with the skills and
Youwillthinkof
things thatyou have
never considered
before.
L
to address the impacts of Covid-19
andwillgiveSMEsinthe Leeds
City Region expert help and advice
to regain control, build resilience
and prepare to embrace the new
business landscape.
Businesses accessing the
support through Accelerate will
benefit from a series ofsix pre­
recorded masterclasses covering
key topics such as Re-setting
the Business, Re-connecting
with Customers and Moving my
Finances Forward, all ofwhich can
be accessed flexibly as a result of
the new virtual delivery style.
The programme also includes
a weekly live webinar to explore
the masterclass topics, giving
businesses the opportunity
to discuss the topics with
an academic lead and other
businesses taking part.
Those taking part will also have
exclusiveaccessto15hoursofone-
to-one mentoring, supported by
guided learning tasks and access
to a resource library to help them
develop their own action plan for
recovery.
In addition to this
comprehensive offer,
knowledge to make informed
decisions and give them the
confidence and support to get
their business back on track”
Helen Hepworth, founder of
Collective Stories Agency, said
this about her experience of
ACCELERATE: “I can’t praise it
enough. It’s challenging and the
content is very strategically driven.
You will think ofthings you have
never considered before. There
are alot oflightbulb moments!
“It brings focus and clarity
and it gave me the tools and
skills I needed to scale up. It also
introducedmeto alotofother
THINKING BIG:
Andy Jack and
Mark Langdale,
at Candle Digital,
at Leeds Beckett
University
Business Centre,
Piece Mill, Halifax,
who are part of
the ADVENTURE
programme.
outside agencies too which has
been invaluable”
The ACCELERATE programme
is available to organisations that
are aiming to grow and create
jobs in the Leeds City Region;
deliver products or services to
other businesses rather than
direct to the consumer; and
any organisations looking for
a structured programme,with
flexible one-to-one support.
■ For further details about the
ACCELERATE programme or
to register your interest, please
visit https://ad-venture.org.uk/
unisupport/accelerate/
ACCELERATEwillalsoprovide
access to wider university support
including student and graduate
talent via recruitment, internships
and placements and opportunities
to collaborate on research
projects.
As part ofthe wider
ADrVENTURE business support
programme, which is part
funded by the European Regional
Development fund, there will
also be opportunity for delegates
to access advice and support in
applying for grants and funding.
LEEDS BECKETT UN1VERSITV
BUSINESS / NEWS
Why homeworking can deliver quick wins for region
Last week I made my first trip into
Leeds city centre since the start of
lockdown.
Even though it had only been 10
weeks, it felt, as if I had been away
for an eternity.
As well as marvelling at the
incredible progress on many of
the city's construction projects
most notably the Majestic which
is looking marvellous - 1 was
pleasantly surprised to see so
many people around.
Many were wearing masks and
many were clearly on their way to
work or taking a break from it
As someone who has been
working in his front room for
nearly throe months, it was a great
reminder that life is going on.
However, as we prepare for next
week's reopening of non-essential
retail, I wonder what that life is
going to look like for the office
market.
Lockdown has demonstrated
conclusively that remote working
COMMENT
Mark Casci
train and contend with sky high
season ticket costs.
Thiswill, ofcourse, lead to
challenges for many commercial
property businesses and indeed
for the service firms that feed
workers during lunch hours.
In recent weeks, I have been
inundated with submissions and
pitches from public relations
professionals acting on behalf
ofoffice space managers,
all desperate to channel
Mark Twain and insist that
reports oftheir death
have been greatly
exaggerated.
They are right, of
course, in the sense
that a physical
presence will always
be required for any
organisation.
You still need a space
to welcome and meet with
clients, partners and ofcourse
with each other. All meetings
Zoom in perpetuity. However,
the switch to remote working will
without question become a more
prevalent method of operating for
many of us and is most likely that
employees will prefer to operate
from home whenever possible.
This will come at cost to the
demand for office space.
Hot desking will be
more commonplace
as the public health
threat retreats and
it seems inevitable
there will be
rationalising of
how much space
companies choose to
rent.
However there will be
opportunities as well.
Here in Yorkshire, and
indeed across the North of
England, we suffer from
low levels of productivity
among large sections of
our workforce.
pace of travel is in large part
responsible for this and home
working can help level up the
productivity gap in a quick and
effective way.
Moreover, the access to talent
can also improve for many parts of
the region.
Take for example the fantastic
city’ of Hull, which has made
giant steps forward in recent
years but often struggles when it
comes to recruitment owing to its
geographic location.
Both public and private
organisations will find it easier to
attract the best people if they only
need to travel to the city once in
a while. This also applies to many
rural companies.
There is much rhetoric about
how we as a planet need to treat
the Covid crisis as a chance to
change things for the better.
This is one arena that can make
a difference for Yorkshire and
deliver quick wins for this proud
not only works but in many
for so long.
particularly those who travel by
will not be conducted via
The painfully slow
and glorious county.
BUSINESS EDITOR
@yorkshirepost
cases, it can make your business
better. During the last 10 weeks
many office-based workers have
shared a collective epiphany that
travelling to work to essentially
just sit in a different room is not
only unnecessary but actually
genuinely pointless.
The very concept of a 9-5
working day has been obliterated
for many, many people - especially
those with children.
You really have to ask why we
have followed a path comparable
to that used in Victorian factories
Certainly employers will now
understand and be unable to
dispute that flexible and remote
working is viable.
Indeed, 1 would imagine for
many sectors it will prove to be
preferable.
With transport so poor across
the region, the eradication of
a miserable and slow moving
commute by car, train or bus will
be a welcome relief for thousands.
School runs and child care will
be made easier and people will
make important financial savings,
SME TOOLKIT
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