New entrepreneur scholarship programme

Although people from disadvantaged areas and backgrounds have the ideas and ambition to succeed in business, many find it hard to find support and finance relevant to their needs.

The New Entrepreneur Scholarship Programme (NES) aims to overcome these difficulties by providing a comprehensive package of support, mentoring and funding in order to encourage and support the start-up and growth of new businesses. Over 4000 people have benefited from NES.

NES is funded by the Learning and Skills Council  and managed by the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA), Association of Business Schools and Prince's Trust.

BBV's NES programme is supported by the NFEA. Many people have been helped by BBV so far to become NES scholars.

Is it for me?

To be eligible for NES, you must live in a disadvantaged area in England and be able to show proof of six months residency. In addition, you must have a business idea but not trading and be over the age of 18. Additionally you should be prepared to:

• Attend the full programme.
• Show commitment to the programme and business idea.
• Complete any written assignments, such as, writing a business plan, in your own time.
• Disclose any prior history which may affect how you go through the programme, for example, poor credit history, bankruptcy and literacy difficulties.

You can be unemployed, or in work, and may choose to start any type of business (within reason), as long as you are planning to own the business, or act as a director. You should also be planning to run your business on a full time basis within the first few months of trading.

The programme helps to overcome specific barriers which would prevent you from starting a business or joining the programme (eg language difficulties, literacy and numeracy problems, childcare arrangements, physical or learning disability).

Target groups

NES wants to raise awareness of enterprise and encourage applications to the programme from groups who have traditionally found it difficult to access business support; including:

• Women
• Ethnic minorities
• Those with physical and/or learning difficulties
• Ex-offenders
• Unemployed or underemployed people
• Those with low-educational levels
• Those with literacy or numeracy difficulties.

Features of past programmes have included:

• A small expenses budget to reimburse costs of using public transport or using childcare.
• Sign language interpreters for hearing impaired scholars.
• Large print materials available for visually impaired scholars.
• Publicity materials in a number of languages.
• Women only sessions.
• Saturday sessions.
• Help with finding and completing short adult education classes.

How is it unique?

Every person starting NES is different. A 'one size fits all' programme is not the most effective form of support. Flexible session times, programme content, methods of teaching and types of qualification all allow individual scholars to get the best out of the programme.

NES provides support throughout the whole process. Following a part-time business support training lasting between four to six months, each scholar moves on to a less intensive ongoing business support stage lasting nine months. This stage provides further assistance in preparation for start-up or support for businesses that are just being started.

Financial assistance

Many NES scholars say that despite their NES training, finance was still a major stumbling block to them starting their own businesses. All NES scholars, who complete the programme and finish their business plan, are eligible to apply for up to £1,500 of start-up support to help them purchase essential items. In many cases, NES funding has helped scholars secure funding from banks or other sources otherwise unavailable to them.

For further information onFor further information on the NES programme, please go to: http://www.nesprogramme.org