Enterprise Nation has announced the first of 12 

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Enterprise Nation has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder, Emma Jones CBE, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.

The Enterprise Champions: Fay Easton, Telford and Shropshire

 who will be representing our community across the UK and helping us to grow a truly entrepreneurial nation.

We're profiling each of the Champions and next up is Fay Easton, representing Telford and Shropshire

Fay Easton

I'm Fay Easton, entrepreneur and f ounder of 

I have  been in business most of my life, from a hot food shop to restaurants and I'm now combining hospitality and business in a co-working Hub in Telford. Alongside managing the hubspace the other facet to my business is delivering co-funded programmes focussed on youth entrepreneurship.

Tell us about the small business scene in your region. Why is it so good?

The small business scene in Shropshire is the lifeblood of the county. We have a business demographic that mirrors the UK with 95% of the business base being micro enterprises producing 50% of the turnover and profit and the other 5% big business knocking out the other 50%. But it's the small business owner that gives life and character to this county.

What needs to be done to make it even better?

Tell us about two great small businesses in your region and why they're so brilliant.

This business is a co-working company in our hub. Founded by two local guys (Dan and James) it's a fabulous business providing giants of the construction industry with CAD/steelwork design services. They have also launched their own Academy; which has interest from India and Africa. They never stand still these two!

Neil Davies founded this business as an over-50 start up. It has been a joy to watch the business flourish and he is a classic entrepreneur; tireless, determined and passionate about his business while committed 110% to his customers. He has just launched an extension to the business called F.A.S.T (Find A Sporting Talent). Neil's sporting coaches in local schools are all determined to set young talent on the path to success and national glory.

Why were you happy to become an Enterprise Nation Regional Champion?

Three reasons. One, to be part of a group of likeminded and entrepreneurial people. Two, to raise awareness in my area to start-up and small business as a national powerhouse and thirdly, to be able to deliver Enterprise Nation quality products to new and growing businesses.

What are your three top tips for running a successful business?

I’m a content and communications strategist with a passion for brand storytelling. I also happen to be Enterprise Nation’s content manager – so if there’s anything you’d like to see more of, or you have a story to tell, please do connect!

Content Manager

Rifhat Qureshi: ‘I’m using fashion as a vehicle to support women’

The fashion entrepreneur talks about her residency at the Hello, World shop.

&lt;p&gt;I am a &lt;b&gt;C&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;hartered Accountant&lt;/b&gt;, having earned a respected reputation in the field of accounting, with more than &lt;b&gt;15 years of experience&lt;/b&gt; in working with small and medium-sized enterprises.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Having worked with business owners ranging from one-man start-ups to large companies requiring a different level of services, I have developed a passion for the profession and I am driven by the success of my clients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I have spent many years in business working at boardroom level, holding various positions before being motivated to start my own practice, Makesworth Accountants, where I have blended my technical skills in accounting and tax with my business skills derived from my time in the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I have embraced the changing times and technologies and strongly agree that accountants are moving from being number crunchers to being reliable and trusted advisors. Throughout this process, Makesworth has been able to secure various affiliations and awards.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My objective is to add value to my clients’ businesses through the application of my extensive experience and knowledge in accounting, tax, HMRC investigations, business start-ups, and much more.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can expect us to provide expert solutions for your business needs no matter what business model you have. You will receive a cost-effective service and a free initial consultation.&lt;/p&gt;

Chartered Accountant

Accountancy, Taxation and Business Advisory

Accountancy, Taxation and Business Advisory Services in the UK

&lt;p&gt;Hey there!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I am a fashion business strategy consultant, coach and mentor. I help entrepreneurs looking to change career and enter the fashion industry to develop their idea into a solid product or service.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I also assist and work with&amp;nbsp;fashion entrepreneurs who already have a business but feel like something is missing, that the brand/business&amp;nbsp;is not growing the way they thought it would, making the money and profits they should or wondering how to scale it bigger.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After graduating with a Fashion degree many moons ago, I worked for some 15years within British&amp;nbsp;luxury brands small and large (you can see my resume on Linked In here:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dessytsolova/"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/dessytsolova/&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;) across apparel and&amp;nbsp;accessories. There isn&amp;#39;t much as a product that I haven&amp;#39;t at some point worked on.&amp;nbsp; For most of this time, I managed the creative teams and oversaw the process from Idea to Finished product and more often than not I then took that knowledge to the PR, marketing and retail shop floor.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After leaving the last company I was employed by, I set up an online fashion manufacturing portal with the mission to demystify and simplify the fashion manufacturing process. Whilst growing the platform and working on the development of software to automate a largely hands-on process I came to the realisation that while so many competitors were jumping on this &amp;quot;trend&amp;quot; to create what they saw as just a &amp;quot;directory&amp;quot; the industry was not getting any more transparent or functional. The problem I saw&amp;nbsp;was hiding in&amp;nbsp;the lack of proper practical and honest educational support to the new influx of entrepreneurs in the industry AND support for independent brand overlooked by the governmental trade bodies.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This determination to share my experience and knowledge with fashion entrepreneurs worldwide led me to exit the platform I spent over 6 years creating and launch Fashion Insiders &amp;amp; Co. An online education and support platform and community for fashion entrepreneurs looking to launch, grow or scale their businesses.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Through our platform, we offer many FREE resources as well as online courses, in-person (via the magic of online meetings) consulting and coaching packages and soon to launch community coaching and accountability incubator.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://fashioninsi&lt;p&gt;Online fashion educational and mentoring platform helping&amp;nbsp;fashion entrepreneurs build and grow profitable fashion brands.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We specialise in helping entrepreneurs:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;- strategise how to launch new product or service based fashion business;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;- idea development from initial development and sourcing&amp;nbsp;stages to bulk manufacturing;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;- business strategy, pricing and target setting&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;- growth mindset&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Support is offered via 1:1 work, tailored to your project needs as well as offering online courses and masterclasses to consume at your own pace and time.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

Business support for fashion brands - 1-2-1 mentoring

Real transformation happens over a longer period of time...<br>
Over the course of&nbsp;a 6-month period I will give you personalised 1 to 1 fashion business mentoring (that just happens to come with lots of great training as well). Whilst the statistic that 90% of fashion startups will fail is very true... it doesn't have to be true for you and your business!

Marketing and Communications Manager

Daneile Moore

&lt;p&gt;AD:VENTURE provides fully funded support to start&amp;nbsp;ups across the Leeds City Region.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We can help businesses:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Pre Start or Trading less than 3 Years&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Who have ambitions to grow&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Who trade primariliy business to business, or looking to increase current B2B offering&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Based in Leeds City Region area&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We offer:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;

The Enterprise Champions: Fay Easton, Telford and Shropshire

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