News
If you have a good news story that relates to the Business Champions programme then please contact the Business Champions team on 0115 924 7419 or email: anna.mills@bitc.org.uk
If you are a Business Champion being interviewed by the media please let the team know and remember to mention your involvement in the programme.
A healthy sector of the economy in need of a business perspective
8 June 2010
Nottingham
Several Nottingham based community and voluntary groups benefited from Business Champions expertise and free offers of support at a unique event held on Thursday 4th February at the Nottingham Voluntary Action Centre. The event was designed to encourage local business people to engage with voluntary sector organisations that take lead in the delivery of health and social care services. Nick Tegerdine, Executive Director of Advice for Alcohol Problems (APAS) was one of the participating groups pitching for support and found the event to be ”a really positive experience that provided me with a great opportunity to network with business people that were able to offer support and constructive criticism, it was exactly what we were looking for.” He left with six offers of support from the participating Business Champions, one of them being from Maria Iliffe, an East Midlands based Coach and Training Consultant who saw this event as “an opportunity to make a real difference to the future of an organisation providing a valuable benefit to the local community. “
East Midlands Business Champions is a voluntary programme created and funded by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) which recruits high-calibre proactive business figures to act as mentors where a commercial perspective is needed. They have been working in partnership with the Nottingham Council for Voluntary Service (NCVS), funded by NHS Nottingham City, to ensure that this event was a success.
Champions attended to give a selection of third sector organisations the benefit of their experience and knowledge of the business world. Participating community and voluntary groups pitched for Champions help on the day, including Laugh For Life (pictured). Although organisations involved in this sector possess a very good understanding of the grass roots issues affecting local people, they can often benefit from outside help to translate the need into a well thought out business solution. Richard Hazledine, Health Commissioning Officer for NCVS hosted the event and began proceedings by talking about a new initiative designed to help voluntary sector organisations deliver contracts on behalf of NHS Nottingham City. “Community and Voluntary organisations are passionate about making a difference, which enables them to make some progress to secure grant funding in the early years. However as they continue to expand, the tools and techniques required to deliver this growth are sometimes not held amongst individuals based within the organisation. As a result, outside support is often required to extend the new approaches and ideas required to further develop the organisation within a strategic context - which is where the invaluable support of the Business Champions comes in. They are able to help with developing credible business models to complement the organisations core social aims.”
A significant proportion of activity within the third sector is funded against a public sector commissioning model. To deliver a commissioned service, local third sector organisations find themselves operating in a competitive environment, where a strategic, business like approach is required to win contracts. With Business Champions help they can translate their vision into a well thought out business plan to showcase the service on offer. This event was organised to introduce several Nottingham based community and voluntary groups to Champions that have an interest in the sector and are keen to help.
The event culminated in a lively expo session that allowed Business Champions to talk to the selected organisations about their needs and offer their pledges of support for ongoing relationships.