European SME Week
10 June 2010
LJMU supports local business during European SME Week.
LJMU’s Business Development Centre (BDC) played an active part during the recent ‘European SME Week’ initiative*, with four networking events for local businesses.
Over 130 guests took part in breakfast and lunchtime events designed to help business to access funding that is available for workforce development; to learn more about initiatives such as Innovation Vouchers and KTPs/Short KTPs and to discover more about the benefits of being a member of LJMU’s Start-Up Entrepreneurs Network.
Feedback from guests confirmed that local businesses want to engage with the University’s business development and business support services in a number of different ways so having four events with different themes enabled guests to ‘pick and mix’ the support that is best suited to their business needs. The events also attracted SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) who had not previously engaged with LJMU and the BDC is now following up a number of new enquiries and opportunities.
Speaking after the events, Jayne Lancaster, SME Business Development Officer, said, “European SME week enabled SMEs to get together by attending a series of events throughout the week. The events provided invaluable information on what is available to the SME community and more importantly, helped us to engage with new businesses; the events have also strengthened and maintained our existing relationships.”
Dominique Aspey, Enterprise Network Manager, added, “Our Start-Up Network is a vibrant community of members who use the Network in a variety of ways to connect with each other and with LJMU. At our breakfast event, we invited some of the members to talk about the different and imaginative ways they use our Network and in showcasing the variety of options, we have opened up more opportunities for us and our Network members to get involved with LJMU’s business support and to enhance the learning experience for our students.”
*European SME Week 2010 is a pan-European campaign with 37 participating countries; events take place at national, regional and local level and are an opportunity for SMEs to share their experiences and to further develop their businesses.
For more information on the range of support for SMEs, please contact Jayne Lancaster in the BDC on 0151 231 8077 or email j.lancaster@ljmu.ac.uk
For more information on LJMU’s Start-Up Network for local business, please contact Dominique Aspey in the BDC on 0151-231 8062 or email d.aspey@ljmu.ac.uk
