Justin Tomlinson MP joined forces with Mayor of Swindon, Cllr. Teresa Page, to celebrate the creation of over 100 new businesses in the town with the support of the Outset Swindon service.
Outset Swindon is a not-for-profit initiative delivering the multi-award winning Outset service that offers enterprise coaching, personal development and business start-up training to individuals. To date, Outset has enabled the creation of over 3,000 businesses across the UK. The programme supports individuals in laying strong foundations to tackle the many barriers faced when starting your own business, offering a structured programme of group workshops and one-on-one mentoring.
The organisation announced the creation of its 100th business, by Ali Celiker of Got2Team, in July 2014. Of Turkish origin, Ali suffers from Scoliosis, which restricts his work options. His Jobcentre advisor referred him to Outset Swindon in May this year to help him pursue his idea of working for himself as a web and graphic designer.
As of today, a total of 127 new businesses have now been registered and more are in the pipeline. This achievement is the result of engaging with around 1,250 people in Swindon Borough, 80% of whom have signed up for the free business assistance available through the fully-funded Outset provision.
Outset continues to focus on attracting hard-to-reach members of the local community and groups who are under-represented in self-employment, including young people, ex-offenders and women.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: "Swindon is a growing town with a growing economy and Outset Swindon does some amazing work supporting so many people. I am not at all surprised that Outset has supported the creation of so many businesses and it is thanks to the hard work and dedication of its staff and volunteers".
Ali Celiker said: "Outset Swindon really helped make my business possible by inviting me to a series of workshops where all my questions about how to get started were answered. All the information provided by Outset has been so helpful. I am much more confident with the idea of being my own boss than I was before."
Outset Swindon Programme Director, Manor Singh, said: "We congratulate Ali and all our clients who have taken the plunge and set up their own business over the last 18 months. Outset offers a strong social return by empowering people to create their own jobs, and has been proven to reduce social and financial exclusion, strengthen deprived communities and help people escape poverty."
