Farewell and thank you to Lesley Johnson
We are very sorry to be saying farewell to our Director of Property and New Business Lesley...
Budding entrepreneurs on the way to starting their own small business have won funding from our own Dragon’s Den.
In March, Phoenix residents with dreams of setting up their own business, started our 12-week online ‘Be your own boss’ course run by award-winning EnterpriseCube, a social enterprise created to fill the gap between disadvantaged people and business. They were joined by a number of residents from Metropolitan Thames Valley (MTVH).
Over the three months, residents developed new skills, increased their knowledge of the business world and learned all there is to know about starting a business and being their own boss. Along the way, the striving entrepreneurs submitted work to one of four categories: customer profile, branding, promotion and presenting a business - in the hope of winning a cash prize to spend on their business.
Congratulations to our winners:
Customer Profile Winners
Shari Leiba
Patricia Raphael
Branding Winners
Ashley Anderson
Geraldina Maslo
Emma Jordan
Promotion Winners
Ashley Anderson
Olusanmi Lokoyi
Video Presentation Winners
Julie Deadman
Jeff Jacobs
Emma Jordan
Each winner received a cash prize to help make their dream business a reality and to become their own boss!
Jim Ripley, Phoenix Chief Executive said: “I had the pleasure of being a cuddly dragon for the Phoenix Dragons Den. What a brilliant initiative with Metropolitan Thames Valley, Phoenix and Enterprise Cube. Our residents are so talented and have amazing small business ideas. It was great handing out prizes, but really they are all winners! I can’t wait to see these new businesses spring to life.”
Thank you to our ‘cuddly dragons’ who judged the category entries: Ofei Kwafo-Akoto MTVH Board Member, Cath Davis Hallnet, Nick Knight MTVH Volunteer Dragon and Jim Ripley Phoenix Chief Executive.
The ‘Be your own boss course’ was offered as part of our commitment to help Phoenix residents get into employment and build their career and to tackle the need for business opportunity in Bellingham, Downham and Whitefoot. The course gives budding entrepreneurs the knowledge and skills they need to turn their business dream into a reality.
We also recently offered a coding course to tech-savvy residents, teaching them all the essential skills to build a career in web development, and linking them with key employers in the industry.
If you’d like to stay up-to-date with the latest job vacancies, apprenticeships, free training and courses, volunteering and employment opportunities, sign up to receive our Roots into Work e-newsletter.
We’ll be running the ‘Be your own boss’ course again this autumn. If you’d like to do the course, you can register your interest here.
