BD 03/07 - 9 March 2007

Grants worth up to £3000 are being offered to people setting up new businesses in the borough under a new business enterprise scheme being run by the Barking & Dagenham Small Business Centre (BDSBC).

The Centre, which is a division of the East London Small Business Centre which has been helping people with start-up new businesses for the past ten years, recently opened new offices in Longbridge Road, Barking.

Deanna Vinton, the pre-start advisor at the Barking Centre says:

"Our free 'Be your own boss' 4-day business training course takes place every fortnight, meaning more people can gain a valuable insight and understanding in to what it means to be self-employed and to set up their own business. We have also increased the size of our business counselling team."

In addition to the grant funding of up to £3,000 for people starting their own business, BDSBC has a variety of start-up finance available for Barking residents, which includes loan funding of up to £20k.

Says Deanna: “This is an exciting time for the borough and this is the ideal opportunity for residents to take full advantage of the range of free business support services that we have to offer.”

The Centre is keen to talk to anyone considering self employment or looking for business advice, training, finance and all its services are free. Contact BDSBC for more information on: 020 8911 3737; e-mail: bdsbc@bdsbc.org; or visit www.bdsbc.org