Top National Award For South Tyneside's Enterprise Champions

A groundbreaking community enterprise campaign pioneered in the North East has won a top national award for its business boosting success.

The UCanB project, which operates across South Tyneside, has just won the prestigious National Enterprise Award for Community Regeneration at the annual National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) award ceremony.

UCanB is run by enterprise agency TEDCO (The Tyneside Economic Development Company) and is designed to spread a grass roots message that self-employment is for all.

The project focuses on reaching those who do not usually touch business support and NFEA judges declared UCanB as a shining example of how barriers to regeneration at a community level can be addressed.

Since launching in April 2007 UCanB, and its team of Enterprise Champions, has engaged with more than 3,000 people across South Tyneside and worked with over 400 on developing business ideas.  Their efforts have also helped more than 50 new businesses to get off the ground.

The UCanB project is delivered by TEDCO (The Tyneside Economic Development Company Ltd) on behalf of and funded through South Tyneside Means Business, a partnership responsible for increasing the number of business start-ups and survivals, supporting businesses to grow and attracting inward investment in South Tyneside.

UCanB project manager Gary Brooks said on behalf of South Tyneside Means Business: “This is a vindication of all the hard work that is being done out there in the communities across the Borough.  The real stars of UCanB are the Enterprise Champions who have patiently identified and nurtured new businesses and the enterprising people themselves.

“We will continue to work at a grass roots level across South Tyneside to encourage more people to expolore ent and work for themselves.”

One NorthEast’s Head of Business, Enterprise and Skills, Tim Pain, said: “UCanB has helped hundreds of people – many of whom have never even considered self-employment as an option before - to take the first steps towards becoming their own boss.

“Getting more people to move from just thinking about starting a business to actually doing it is a real challenge for the North East, but projects like this are making a difference.”

The NFEA (National Federation of Enterprise Agencies) is a network of independent, not-for-profit, Local Enterprise Agencies committed to responding to the needs of small and growing businesses, especially developing pre-start activity.

The NFEA National Enterprise Awards were launched in 2007 to recognise excellence in the delivery of enterprise support by encouraging the exchange of good practice and the development of improved services and organisations.
The UCanB team of Enterprise Champions can be contacted on 0191 428 3383.

Photograph: (Left to Right) UCanB Enterprise Champions Carol Metcalfe and Ross Laffey, TEDCO Chief Executive Doug Scott and UCanB Manager Gary Brooks.