We chat to Outset Bristol about the issue of entrepreneurialism in the City

by Startacus Admin

As you know it's June, but what you might not know is that here at Startacus it's officially our Startup Bristol month. So what's that then ? Well, its an entire month during which the lovely city of Bristol and the good folks who live there become the focus of our attention as we examine and showcase the startups, events, creatives and quirky goings-on that make it the fab self starter city that it is.

We have already heard an appropriately impassioned account of the city's startup culture from local entrepreneur Ash Phillips and now we jump a little deeper in and chat to Matt Rogers from Outset Bristol about some of the more practical issues of entrepreneurialism in the city.

So Matt, it's clear from what we have been hearing so far that Bristol has got a vibrant and burgeoning startup scene. Can you tell us a little bit about Outset and what its role in that scene is?

Outset Bristol was set up in 2010 to provide support to pre-start businesses in Bristol, and after 3 1/2 years of doing just that we have ­become an integral part of the Bristol startup scene. To date we have supported 292 businesses to start, helping create 317 jobs for the city. Most of these businesses are still trading and some are having great success.Some of our success stories are featured below:

Outset Bristol Success Stories

Alex Poulter of East Bristol Bakery is gaining lots of positive coverage at the moment for his traditional craft bakery in the heart of the Easton community. They make high quality traditional breads, seasonal specials and tasty sweet treats including vegan, dairy free and wheat-free offerings. East Bristol Bakery officially launched in October 2012, and now employs 4 staff, with a turnover of £100k in year one. The last month alone has seen them win “Best Local Bakery” in the 2014 Bristol Good Food Awards and feature on Channel 4 alongside Heston Blumenthal.

Joseph Edwards, of Tidy and Shiny one of our rising stars. He started his domestic cleaning service in January this year and is already employing 10 members of staff. Their company mission is for every customer to be wowed by everything they do. To this end they make the service as easy to use as possible, and provide a high standard of cleaning backed up with a team of workers focused on providing great customer service. Bookings can be made online in under 60 seconds and their hi-tech system enables them to guarantee geographic availability as well as on a specific date and time basis.

Joseph has just moved into new office space at shared entrepreneurial space The Pithay and has grand plans for his business, aiming to be operating in 66 major towns and cities in the UK within three years.

Kati Harris Design is a contemporary lampshade company selling beautiful design classics created to make any interior a stylish one. Each piece is traditionally hand crafted at the founder’s Victorian studio in Bristol.The business was set up in 2013 and includes both an interiors range and a children’s range in retro fabrics. These can be purchased on the company website and several online and offline retail outlets. As well as selling ‘off-the-shelf’, Kati also does commissions and is currently working with Liberty London on a range of 8-10 shades using vintage fabrics. These are available from the Arts and Crafts exhibition running until mid-June on the fourth floor of their Regent Street store in London.

Outset Bristol clients Palladium Patient Safety sponsored the first annual Bristol Patient Safety Conference In May. Based locally, Nicola Henderson and Annette Marshall Have extensive front-line experience of working for the NHS in the patient safety team in a large acute trust in the South West of England. They are committed to improving safety for patients, and provide complaint and incident investigation services, quality improvement and patient safety education services. The conference featured a combination of plenary talks and interactive workshops, and was focused on sharing learning, providing networking opportunities and celebrating the patient safety initiatives that have been put into place by local individuals and teams based in healthcare settings across the South West and beyond.

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Published on: 5th June 2014