Meeting 18th February - Business Gateway

Seagate Rotary had a home grown speaker on Monday, when member John Brown outlined the benefits available to new and developing companies from Business Gateway.  Business Gateway is a free service, which can be approached by any start-up or small business, to encourage growth through the provision of expertise and advice not usually available in smaller organisations.

Their advisers will work one to one with companies, totally confidentially, to develop business plans and marketing and give advice on tax, banking, bookkeeping and professional services.  In addition they have in-depth knowledge of available loans, grants and investors, and can help with exports, innovation protection, tax breaks and allowances and many other areas of business development. 

Setting up your own business can be a daunting prospect, but Business Gateway is there to give guidance, training workshops and networking with other businesses to ensure you get the best possible chance of being successful.  John gave some examples of small local businesses that have rapidly developed into multi-million pound turnover international success stories.  There were a number of questions on details as members heard about grants and loans, and a Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dan Moriarty.