Small business Vidicrew was awarded a £2,000 grant in 2018 as one of the University of East London start-up businesses. It is now reaching new levels of growth. |
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The Haberdashers’ Company’s partnership with UEL endeavours to combat the ‘three-year flop’ seen among many fledgling businesses in London. Our funding targets the point at which businesses are most likely to fail. It helps bridge the gap between start-up and scale-up where there is very little support or funding available. Each year £10,000 is awarded to UEL to be distributed among five fledgling businesses in order for them to counter any teething issues they face. In 2020 the five awardees were Red Pheonix Films, Fundwaste, Dreamy Bath & Melts, AASPhysical and Pufferr. In addition to the grant each of these Small-Medium Enterprises is supported with one-to-one mentoring from one of UEL’s Enterprise Coaches over a six-month period. They receive the support of a student intern plus access to workshops, mentoring, specialist advice, contract templates and networks. Vidicrew’s 2018 grant enabled them to build an Android version of their app. Since then they have sourced other, more substantial funding and are looking to widen their audience beyond the wedding market. Rebecca Moodie, UEL’s Enterprise Manager, says, ‘We are passionate about continuing to build a close relationship with the Haberdashers’ Company and its members and hope this is an aspect that we can embed and continue year on year’. The Company continues to seek ways to make our partnership with UEL more meaningful. We are in dialogue with the Enterprise Manager in the hope of adding value to their enterprise support model to the benefit of each business and the Company. Thanks to Liveryman Rachel Irwin for her support of this work as UEL’s Company Contact. |