We introduce our informal monthly
meet-ups.
Find out how you could win a £500 award to test a business idea.
Local Ethical Banking
Create a Spark in 2019
We’re kicking the year off with some exciting events in February and March, including showing how easy it is to start up your own local business.
Let’s make 2019 the year you turn your business dream into a reality.
£
5
Welcome to the first edition of the Local Spark Magazine!
The Local Entrepreneurs Forum
Local Spark Events
In this issue we offer five top tips on marketing your product or service.
8
Find out why we’re so excited about Torbay’s first ever Community of Dragons.
1
ISSUE 1
THIS MAGAZINE IS
FULLY INTERACTIVE
/
Top Tips
We take a look at a new kind of local banking, with South West Mutual.
Get Together with Spark
Inspire Awards
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
It’s time to get your diary out.
6
Local Spark Events
New events are regularly added and are shown
on the website, click below for details.
GET YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS STARTED
A two-hour introductory workshop covering the basics on developing your idea, understanding your customer, creating your USP, what’s in a business plan, where to find funding and more.
Venues: In the Torbay area.
Costs £5 £10 £15 (What you can afford)
Refreshments included.
BUSINESS COACH GET TOGETHER
An Informal event aimed at business coaches and mentors, to identifying areas of interest and expertise, agree guidelines and discuss Local Spark’s aims and objectives going forward.
Venue: Torquay
Costs £5 £10 £15 (What you can afford)
Refreshments included.
Find out how the South West Mutual Bank is making a real difference in the South West
According to its website,
the South West Mutual Bank (SWMB)
has been formed to:
‘establish the first ever member-owned high street bank dedicated to the residents and small businesses of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.’
At a time when we are seeing more and more banks disappearing from our high streets, the news that SWMB plans to open their first seven branches in the region by 2020, with more to follow, is rather exciting.
To find out more about SWMB and its plans for the South West, Local Spark’s Chris Gunson went along to their presentation at Paignton Library in January.
The people running SWMB have all worked in banking, understand the problems and what is wrong with the current banking system, and are determined to do things very differently.
There is a lot of support and expertise behind them. Over time, they will develop a network of local branches with local managers who can make decisions about loan applications.
They will combine the latest technology with real human beings, so you get the best of both worlds.
The clever thing is that they don’t need actual premises – they can have branches in local libraries or community cafés, making them really accessible to everyone. They also plan to have mobile branches which they can park up in any High Street.
All the staff will be paid a real living wage, and the CEO will be paid no more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid employee. This will bring well-paid jobs with prospects of promotion into the area.
Unlike many of our traditional banks, the SWMB’s charges will be totally transparent – they plan to charge a flat fee of £5 per month, which will cover any additional services you might require.
West Devon and South Hams District Councils have already invested in SWMB – we now just need Torbay Council to do the same - to invest in something that will be of real use to local people and local businesses.
I was truly impressed and will be at the front of the queue to open my account when the first branch opens its doors in the South West.
LOCAL ETHICAL BANKING
Click here for SWMB contact details
South West Mutual
3
TOP TIPS
2
5
Tips supplied by New Moon PR
According to its website, the South West Mutual Bank (SWMB) has been formed ‘to establish the first ever member-owned high street bank dedicated to the residents and small businesses of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.’
At a time when we are seeing more and more banks disappearing from our high streets, the news that SWMB plans to open their first branches in the region within the next 24 months, is rather exciting. To find out more about SWMB and its plans for the South West, Local Spark’s Chris Gunson went along to their presentation for the Royal Society of Arts at Paignton Library in January. “Firstly, they really seem to know what they are doing, which is very reassuring. The people running SWMB have all worked in banking, understand the problems and what is wrong with the current banking system, and are determined to do things very differently. There is a lot of support and expertise behind them.
They plan to open branches all over the UK and over time, they will develop a network of local branches with local managers who can make decisions about loan applications. They will combine the latest technology with real human beings, so you get the best of both worlds. The clever thing is that they don’t need actual premises – they can have branches in local libraries or community cafés, making them really accessible to everyone. They also plan to have mobile branches which they can park up in any High Street.
The other thing which delighted me was their structure - all the staff will be paid a real living wage, and the CEO will be paid no more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid employee. This will bring well paid jobs with prospects of promotion into the area. Unlike many of our traditional banks, the SWMB’s charges will be totally transparent – they plan to charge a flat fee of £5 per month, which will cover any additional services you might require. West Devon and South Hams District Councils have already invested in SWMB – we now just need Torbay Council to do the same - to invest in something that will be of real use to local people and local businesses.
All in all I was truly impressed and will be at the front of the queue to open my account when the first branch opens its doors in the South West.
Marketing your new business
4
• Venue hire for a meeting, small conference
or event.
• Payment for an expert practitioner or speaker.
• Travel expenses.
• Expenses to enable you or a small group to
visit another group or project who are doing
something similar and of interest to you in
helping you develop your ideas.
• Fees to attend a conference or training event
to increase your ability to put your ideas into
practice.
Note: The funds cannot be spent on your own fees or wages for attending or organising events or activities.
View Contact Details
Transform Ageing is always on the lookout for entrepreneurs with ideas to transform the experience of ageing.
Contact the Torbay Community Development Trust (TCDT) and fill in a short application form (which can be completed over the phone).
You can also arrange a meeting with the TCDT to discuss your application. You will need to describe what you want to do and how this will help make a contribution to improving the experience of later life.
To help get these ideas off the ground they created the Inspire Awards. Inspire Awards are open to anyone who would like to learn from others and share their ideas.
If you’ve heard about a project that is running somewhere else and would like to find out more or test it in your area, or if you could simply help others by sharing your experiences, you could be eligible for an award
of up to £500.
HOW TO APPLY
INSPIRE AWARDS
WHAT CAN THE MONEY BE SPENT ON?
Win £500 testing your business idea
7
A monthly get-together in the Bay
Local Spark Meet-ups
details available at:
www.localsparktorbay.org/news-events
Central location, friendly atmosphere, good conversation, networking and an exchange of ideas.
We meet once a month for an informal get-together, to welcome new faces, catch-up and share our Local Spark experiences.
COME AND JOIN US!
LOCAL SPARK
contact Chris Gunson
chris@localsparktorbay.org
Feel free to contact us with suggestions for future issues.
Spark is innovation, creation, a meeting of minds
Creating new local businesses that thrive
Adding value to the community and beyond
INSPIRE AWARDS
contact Jess Slade
jessslade@torbaycdt.org.uk
01803 212638
8
SOUTHWEST MUTUAL
Broadwalk House
Southernhay West, Exeter
01392 984004
magazine design/marketing tips: www.NewMoonPR.co.uk
LINKS
or
email chris@localsparktorbay.org
WHAT IS THE LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR'S FORUM (LEF)?
Well, it’s like a bigger, more inclusive, community-driven version of Dragon’s Den: Three or four local entrepreneurs or growing enterprises which meet certain criteria, pitch to an audience made up of members of the local community – who become the Community of Dragons.
The Dragons respond with offers of investment – investments of time, business experience, skills, introductions to networks, tweets, baked cakes, lunches and sometimes, money.
It is a warm, friendly and fun event, which makes people truly feel part of the community and which, more importantly, also yields tangible results.
The LEF has proven to be a powerful spark for new entrepreneurial activity, for engaging and including local people in the process of economic regeneration and for firing the imagination of what's possible when people come together to invest themselves in their communities.
Local Enterprise Forum
!
If you’re interested, or know anyone who might be, visit www.localsparktorbay.org/lef
It's been happening in Totnes, South Devon for the last 8 years, helping to launch and grow a number of wonderful local businesses.
It’s happened in places like Brixton, London, where it led to the creation of a local bank. This helped pave the way for the Greater London Mutual, which, like the South West Mutual, belongs to a network of cooperatively-owned banks
IN JUNE 2019.
LOCAL SPARK IS ORGANISING ITS FIRST EVER TORBAY LEF!
We're very excited about it and currently looking for local entrepreneurs and enterprises who would like to take part, as well as coaches, mentors, individuals or local businesses who would like to make up the
Community of Dragons.
(read our article on the South West Mutual Bank).
It's also been happening in Isumi, Japan, where their project supported a local organic rice farmer who sells to local cafés and shopkeepers, as well as a craft sake brewer.
And it's been happening in Decorah, Iowa, and in Glastonbury, Somerset and in Hebdon Bridge, Yorkshire.
It can happen anywhere. IT CAN EVEN HAPPEN IN TORBAY…
?
How dragons can help your business fly
We take a look at a new kind of local banking with South West Mutual
Local Enterprise Forum
We Introduce our informal monthly meet-ups
Find out why we are so excited about Torbays first ever
Community of Dragons
Spark is innovation, creation, a meeting of minds
Creating new local businesses that thrive
Adding value to the community and beyond
We’re kicking the year off with some exciting in February and March, inclusing showing how easy it is to start your own local business.
Welcome to the first edition of
the Local Spark Magazine!
WHAT IS THE LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR'S FORUM (LEF)?
Well, it’s like a bigger, more inclusive, community-driven version of Dragon’s Den: Three or four local entrepreneurs or growing enterprises which meet certain criteria, pitch to an audience made up of members of the local community – who become the Community of Dragons.
The Dragons respond with offers of investment – investments of time, business experience, skills, introductions to networks, tweets, baked cakes, lunches and sometimes, money.
It is a warm, friendly and fun event, which makes people truly feel part of the community and which, more importantly, also yields tangible results.
The LEF has proven to be a powerful spark for new entrepreneurial activity, for engaging and including local people in the process of economic regeneration and for firing the imagination of what's possible when people come together to invest themselves in their communities.
If you’re interested, or know anyone who might be, visit www.localsparktorbay.org
IN JUNE 2019
LOCAL SPARK IS ORGANISING ITS FIRST EVER TORBAY LEF!
We're very excited about it and currently looking for local entrepreneurs and enterprises who would like to take part, as well as coaches, mentors, individuals or local businesses who would like to make up the
Community of Dragons.
(read our article on the
South West Mutual Bank).
LOCAL ENTERPRISE FORUM
IN JUNE 2019.
LOCAL SPARK IS ORGANISING ITS FIRST EVER TORBAY LEF!
We're very excited about it and currently looking for local entrepreneurs and enterprises who would like to take part, as well as coaches, mentors, individuals or local businesses who would like to make up the
Community of Dragons.
• Venue hire for a meeting, small
conference or event.
• Payment for an expert practitioner
or speaker.
• Travel expenses.
• Expenses to enable you or a small
group to visit another group or project
who are doing something similar and
of interest to you in
helping you develop your ideas.
• Fees to attend a conference or
training event to increase your ability
to put your ideas into practice.
Note: The funds cannot be spent on your own fees or wages for attending or organising events or activities.
Transform Ageing is always
on the lookout for entrepreneurs with ideas to transform the experience of ageing
To help get these ideas off the ground they created the Inspire Awards.
Inspire Awards are open to anyone who would like to learn from others and share their ideas.
If you’ve heard about a project that is running somewhere else and would like to find out more or test it in your area, or if you could simply help others by sharing your experiences, you could be eligible for an award of up to
£500.
According to its website,
the South West Mutual Bank (SWMB)
has been formed to:
‘establish the first ever member-owned high street bank dedicated to the residents and small businesses of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.’
At a time when we are seeing more and more banks disappearing from our high streets, the news that SWMB plans to open their first seven branches in the region by 2020, with more to follow, is rather exciting.
To find out more about SWMB and its plans for the South West, Local Spark’s Chris Gunson went along to their presentation at Paignton Library in January.
The people running SWMB have all worked in banking, understand the problems and what is wrong with the current banking system, and are determined to do things very differently.
There is a lot of support and expertise behind them. Over time, they will develop a network of local branches with local managers who can make decisions about loan applications.
They will combine the latest technology with real human beings, so you get the best of both worlds.
The clever thing is that they don’t need actual premises – they can have branches in local libraries or community cafés, making them really accessible to everyone. They also plan to have mobile branches which they can park up in any High Street.
All the staff will be paid a real living wage, and the CEO will be paid no more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid employee. This will bring well-paid jobs with prospects of promotion into the area.
Unlike many of our traditional banks, the SWMB’s charges will be totally transparent – they plan to charge a flat fee of £5 per month, which will cover any additional services you might require.
West Devon and South Hams District Councils have already invested in SWMB – we now just need Torbay Council to do the same - to invest in something that will be of real use to local people and local businesses.
I was truly impressed and will be at the front of the queue to open my account when the first branch opens its doors in the South West.
Local Spark
Meet-ups
Feel free to contact us
with suggestions for future issues.
New events are regularly added and are shownon the website, click below for details.
EVENTS
GET YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS STARTED
A two-hour introductory workshop covering the basics on developing your idea, understanding your customer, creating your USP, what’s in a business plan, where to find funding and more.
Venues: In the Torbay area.
Costs £5 £10 £15 (What you can afford)
Refreshments included.
BUSINESS COACH GET TOGETHER
An Informal event aimed at business coaches and mentors, to identifying areas of interest and expertise, agree guidelines and discuss Local Spark’s aims and objectives going forward.
Venue: Torquay
Costs £5 £10 £15 (What you can afford)
Refreshments included.