A £2.2 million project is being launched to support new entrepreneurs in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. More than £2m ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence investment has been approved for the project, with the remainder coming from the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency).

It is part of an ambitious package of investments totalling £25 million that are aimed at supporting business growth in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

YTKO, the UK economic and business development consultancy, has been appointed to deliver the intensive business start-up support. It will be aimed at under-represented groups in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Women, minority ethnic and disabled people are some of the groups under-represented in enterprise across the UK. With the right support, many can be helped into creating strong and successful businesses.

Bev Hurley, YTKO’s Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted that our record in delivering a strong return on investment to our funders, and making a real difference to our clients, has resulted in this new project. We work with a huge variety of new entrepreneurs, from high growth to multiply disadvantaged, and tailor all our programmes to suit their different needs and challenges.”

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: “This is one of a series of ERDF Convergence investments offering additional business support to accelerate the growth of business activity in our economy. It will help remove barriers presented to some people as they endeavour to start, run and expand successful businesses.”

Stephen Bohane, Head of Business Development for the South West RDA in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: “It’s vital that we invest to unlock business potential and identify, support and develop our entrepreneurs and wealth-creators of tomorrow. This very focused support will ensure that we capture and nurture that entrepreneurial spirit.”

Toni Eyriey, of Business Cornwall, was on the independent selection team that chose YTKO. She said: “YTKO impressed me with their track record and their determination to make a real difference to aspiring businesses. Going forward, I am confident that Cornwall will reap the fruits of their labour.”

YTKO’s programme team, based in Truro, will be working closely with Business Link, the School for Social Entrepreneurs, and a number of other local organisations, and running informal enterprise taster events around the county. Those who want to progress further can then attend a specialist, flexible training programme covering all the key personal and business skills needed for a successful business.

Eileen Lennon, head of YTKO’s Enterprise Inclusion Team, said “Inspiring, motivating and unlocking the potential of under-represented groups to start-up successful new businesses generates real returns for local and regional economies, and financial independence for the individual.”

YTKO’s success in leading the Enterprising Women project, which helped the creation of over 250 sustainable new businesses and jobs in the East of England in an 18 month period, was one of the key success factors in securing the new contract. Enterprising Women was recently selected by BIS as one of three best practice UK projects to be showcased at the European Charter Conference in Stockholm in October.

A strong track record is reinforced by the experience of its enterprise team in successfully engaging and supporting new entrepreneurs from all walks of life, and a unique start-up programme that focuses on ensuring the sustainability of new businesses.

YTKO is headquartered in Cambridge. It is Customer First accredited, and the holder of the Prowess Flagship Awards across all its services.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Cornwall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.