The StartUp Britain bus is back! StartUp Britain – now part of the Centre for Entrepreneurs – will hit the road this summer to engage 15,000 aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs in 25 locations across Britain.
Over three previous tours, the StartUp Britain bus has engaged over 25,000 individuals and visited over 70 locations across Britain. It has taken the country’s leading entrepreneurs and supporters to every corner of the land to spread the message of entrepreneurship and celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs. Those on the tours have provided invaluable advice and support to people thinking of starting up, and have helped countless entrepreneurs grow their business through mentoring, introductions and guidance.
So what’s happening this year? The mission remains exactly the same: to inspire people to turn their business ideas into action, to celebrate entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial communities across Britain, and to raise awareness of national and local support available to entrepreneurs.
NatWest has lent us its beautiful 1966 Routemaster bus (the NatWest Mobile Business School) which we’ll be wrapping with some eye-catching graphics. NatWest and Sage will have business advisors on board throughout, giving workshops and one-to-one advice. Start Up Loans will also be on board celebrating the success of loan recipients and giving advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, as will Upwork (previously Elance). We’ll also be tying in with support organisations in each area, including Entrepreneurial Spark, Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Hot500 and BizBritain.
We’re visiting a great collection of towns and cities across Britain, but with a limited number of days on tour it’s impossible to visit everyone. We’ve tried to balance big cities with smaller towns; those regularly visited with those never visited; those with thriving entrepreneurial communities with those most in need of entrepreneurship.
While this summer’s tour is limited to 25 locations, with Sage and NatWest now on board as headline sponsors of StartUp Britain, we are preparing an exciting programme of events, campaigns and resources for the coming year that will engage people right across the country.
We have a great range of advisors, mentors and entrepreneurs joining the bus in each location, but there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved. If you want to bring a group of people to the bus, or if you want to host an activity on or near the bus, do get in touch. If you haven’t already heard from us and would like to help promote the bus locally, do request a marketing action pack from us.
We’ll be releasing more details on workshop timings, activities and fringe events as we approach the tour launch on 22nd June, so keep an eye on #StartUpTour and follow @StartUpBritain to get the latest information.
All aboard the StartUp Bus!