As the economic ramifications of the Covid-19 lockdown continue to be heard across County Durham, a newly launched enterprise support programme has seen a rapid increase in enquiries from would-be entrepreneurs looking to take the leap and start a new career working for themselves.
As redundancies are announced across hard-hit sectors of the economy, the business support team at TEDCO has seen a 60% jump in enquiries for their start-up services to access to the newly launched Durham Ambitious Business Start-ups (DABS) programme.
Individuals facing the uncertainty of redundancy are increasingly turning to self-employment options to help weather the current economic storm and manage their professional future during what are uncertain times.
DABS is an innovative new approach to supporting start-up businesses in County Durham. The programme aims to help individuals at the pre-start stage and businesses trading up to 12 months with a unique package of supportive measures designed to drive success and create new jobs for the County.
As part of the DABS delivery team, TEDCO will be using their many years of enterprise experience to lead on the pre-start and existing business support and help ambitious business start-ups get up and running. Delivered over three years, TEDCO are now looking for would-be entrepreneurs, or those in the early stages of running their business, to join the programme and benefit from the range of free workshops, one-to-one mentoring and business introductions on offer.
Carole White, chief executive of TEDCO comments:
“The last few weeks have seen an unprecedented number of new enquiries from people looking to take charge of their own future and develop a career that works for them. The most hard hit sectors have seen redundancy numbers jump as the true scale of the economic hardship arising from the Covid-19 lockdown has become clearer.
“From our point of view, we want to provide realistic, practical and helpful advice to anyone considering using this time to work on the business idea that has been bubbling away in the back of their mind – our team of advisors can work with you to make your new venture a reality.”
Working in conjunction with Business Durham, TEDCO’s uniquely designed pre and post-start business programme uses a combination of peer-learning, one-to-one coaching and intensive interactive workshops to drive entrepreneurial activity and future success.
The TEDCO team of business advisors are adept at providing business support to new ventures in the North East. Since its inception, TEDCO has supported thousands of businesses to set up and thrive through its range of business development programmes up and down the region. As the North East exclusive delivery partner for Virgin StartUp, businesses have benefited from low-cost, government-backed business loans to help new businesses receive the capital they need to launch, grow and expand.
Carole White continues:
“DABS is a package of support like no other to support new enterprises in the County. Offering a mix of direct mentoring and free to access workshops, scale-up support and investment advice – this is an opportunity to inspire and support the aspirations of entrepreneurs at every level.
“We know the difficulties so many people are facing during these unprecedented times and DABS has been expressly designed to support activity from the different affected sectors. Our aim is to create new job opportunities, provide a much-needed boost to the local economy and support businesses and individuals who are facing an uncertain future.
“As the last few weeks have shown, individuals are looking for help and advice and right now we have a team of experience advisors able to help them. We want to encourage anyone seeking answers to get in touch and discuss your business idea with our team.”