Bucks: University launches help in downturn

Buckinghamshire New University is offering assistance for local people and businesses affected by the economic downturn following the launch of its Open 4 Business practical help in tough times scheme on July 8.

Developed with £500,000 of Government funding through the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF), the project aims to bring together the University’s expertise with that of its partners to help individual workers and SMEs in Buckinghamshire withstand the recession.

The project was launched with the official opening of Open 4 Business’ smart new Instant Offices in Buckingham House on Desborough Road, next to Eden, High Wycombe. This new facility provides a helping hand for new businesses in need of office space and services, but who find rent and lease commitments prohibitive. Open 4 Business is offering desk space with free broadband, phone and postal services, car parking close by at very affordable rates, and a prestigious town centre business address for new organisations.

The Open 4 Businessscheme also provides individuals with free advice, training and mentoring across a wide range of business themes. The emphasis is on helping budding entrepreneurs shape their ideas for investment, supporting locals starting up in business, and giving a boost to anyone feeling anxious about their skill levels in the current job market. A voucher worth £2,500 is available to eligible local applicants so they can pick and mix from the wide range of courses and services on offer and build the programme that suits them best. There is a wide selection of day, evening or weekend training sessions to choose from, from website development to word-processing, sales techniques to psychometric testing, and project management to presentation skills.

Local businesses will also be well-served from theOpen 4 Businesspractical help in tough timesscheme. The University’s successful involvement in knowledge transfer is expanding, offering small and medium companies support in tackling their business challenges with bespoke consultancy or applied research. To keep costs low, businesses can win £2,500 towards the cost of their support package, and a team combining research expertise and commercial experience has already helped local businesses address issues and develop new products to keep a competitive advantage.

Susan Jones, Director of Enterprise at Bucks New University, commented: “We were thrilled to win funding for this project against very stiff national competition. Our local partner organisations have been a fantastic support, too. They are matching the money we won so we have over a million pounds to spend on helping people and businesses in our region. We want to hear from businesses and individuals – anyone who’s feeling vulnerable in this recession – to let them see how our programme can help them keep going.”

The new Instant Office in Buckingham House was officially declared open by Harry Clarke, Commercial and Founding Director of Cobalt Telephone Technologies Ltd, who gave an inspiring talk to guests entitled, Business growth through ups and downs.

A former engineer and army captain, Harry Clarke is living proof of achieving success during a recession, having founded automated transaction handling company, Cobalt Telephone Technologies, with a business partner in 1997, with Clarke using his redundancy money to pay his half of the £20,000 capital investment. The company grew rapidly in a short space of time, and today, Cobalt’s clients include Manchester United Football Club, four UK airlines and 10 London Boroughs.

Under Clarke's leadership, since 2005 Cobalt has been heavily focused on the commercial development of RingGo, an award-winning mobile phone parking payment service. RingGo has now established itself as the UK's leading brand of phone parking with a dominant presence in London, western England and south central England, including High Wycombe.

Harry provided practical pointers and hands-on advice for would-be entrepreneurs noting in particular the energy and commitment demanded to ensure a business idea actually keeps making money. But he was at pains to stress the rewarding and fun side too, describing steering a business as “just the best thing you can do with your clothes on”. Cutting the ribbon to launch the project he welcomed it as a truly practical service: “This resource is really helpful. It provides motivated individuals with the space and support they need and lets them get on with what they need to do.”

The launch of Open 4 Business practical help in tough times wasfollowed by a special dinner held in partnership with Bucks Economic and Learning Partnership at Café Zest,House of Fraser, Eden, where Roger House, Regional Chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses gave a speech to local business people.

The launch event followed a breakfast meeting on July 2:

Recession as an opportunity?

Dr Ted Hartz speaks at Open 4 Business practical help in tough times event

Open 4 Business,which provides Bucks New University’s services to business, hosted a breakfast meeting with special guest and honorary graduate, Dr Ted Hartz of Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, who gave an inspiring talk to local organisations entitled, Recession as an Opportunity.

The event, which took place in Café Zest, House of Fraser, Eden, High Wycombe, covered such areas as the importance of thinking creatively about the future, encouraging people to discuss ideas and work collaboratively, finding new strategies and cross-marketing opportunities.

Hartz is the executive director of Customized Learning Solutions at Drexel University. His professional experience includes 28 years in higher education serving as a finance professor, academic department head, and university dean for 14 years, and he has developed successful training programmes for corporations in the United States and around the world. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bucks New University in 2004 for his work in international business and developing creative international education programmes.

Ted has over 20 years entrepreneurial experience as a business and economic development consultant. He has also served as CEO and President of a county economic development organisation and has created grassroots community programmes that have assisted hundreds of economically-deprived participants to develop new businesses. His work in community development has been recognised by President Bill Clinton, the Federal Department of Education, the Federal Department of Labor, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Federal Reserve System and the United Nations.

Hartz said at the event: "This is a great time to refocus our efforts and be true entrepreneurs. We need to creatively envision what we want to be, search for and find new opportunities, and review and redesign our marketing plan. It is a time to learn from the best around the world, to seek advice and gain insights from others especially those who do not think as we do. It is important to look at the greats in many fields, read as much as we can, seek new ideas from everywhere and marvel at great design. If we decide to develop new products or services, we need to concentrate on 'innovation that ships'.

“We should pay super attention to our customers and do whatever is feasible to keep them loyal, and we need to understand the experience economy and realise that customers want more than products or services, they want a way of life and we want to be part of it. We also need to make certain that we are building a business with good systems and concentrate on reducing costs and risk as much as possible. It is a great time to think, to create, to learn, to be an entrepreneur!"

The breakfast meeting was the first event to be held as part of the Open 4 Business practical help in tough times Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) project, after the University was awarded £500,000 to be used to bring together the expertise of the University and its partners to help Buckinghamshire’s individual workers and SMEs withstand the recession.

The funding was announced in April 2009 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)as part of a significant Government investment designed to help universities and colleges support individuals and businesses during the economic downturn.