All aboard as Startup Britain launches nationwide bus tour

Throughout August and September, the StartUp Britain bus will visit 14 locations across the country with the aim of encouraging more people to start and grow their own business.

The team will travel complete with experts, mentors, entrepreneurs and small business authors, to locations including Brighton, Cambridge, Birmingham, Sheffield and York, in an on-going pursuit to encourage budding entrepreneurs in all areas of Britain to start-up their own businesses. 

The organisation is backed by a number of companies who have pledged their support to Britain’s budding entrepreneurs and small business owners including StartUp Britain’s founding sponsors: AXA, Barclays, Dell, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, MITIE and PayPal, who will each be giving specialist business advice and discounts to entrepreneurs across the UK.

Sally Revell, Head of Marketing at Intuit UK said: “Small businesses form the backbone of Britain and what better way of supporting and encouraging these entrepreneurs than by providing our expert advice on how they can best manage their finances.

“Not only will this tour give vital help to start-ups and small businesses up and down the country, but it will spur them on to give the UK the economic boost that it needs.”

Di Mayze, founder of start-up business BuggyTug and a local ambassador of StartUp Britain, said:

“I am delighted to be involved as a StartUp Britain Local Ambassador. When I first saw one of the founders Emma Jones talk about StartUp Britain I knew immediately it was something I wanted to be part of. 

“Working by yourself at home, like I and many other start-ups do, can be quite lonely, and it’s brilliant to not only bring start-ups together, but more importantly offer them much needed support and advice.  I’m very much looking forward to being on the StartUp Britain bus tour in Nottingham.”

Richard Alvin, Managing Editor of Business Matters, who will be joining the tour in Manchester, Hampshire and Cambridge, to provide an insight on what it is like to gain press and media coverage, said: “This tour is such a great opportunity to talk with people up and down Britain on what it is like to start their own business. We know from talking to our UK wide Business Matters readers that there is as much entrepreneurial spirit in Leeds and Manchester as there is in London and the south east, but are aware that the capital gets much more resources focussed on it and this tour will go a small way to redress that balance.”

Emma Jones, co-founder and interim chief executive of StartUp Britain, said:  “Thanks to help and support from our local StartUp champions, this tour allows us to take StartUp Britain across Britain. The bus will travel from north to south and east to west loaded with business experts, start-up advice and valuable offers. 

Jones added “We will be meeting with students and helping them turn ideas into ventures and we’ll be visiting employees moving from employment into self-employment. I look forward to welcoming hundreds of start-ups and small businesses on board!” 

For more details and to register interest in boarding the bus, visit the website at http://www.startupbritain.org/summerbustour/