Entrepreneurial Sparks Free Accelerator Goes National

by Startacus Admin

We are delighted to have some great news about our pals at Entrepreneurial Spark!

They have just announced an exciting new partnership with Nat West, which will see their unique standard of free business accelerator hubs, expand to 8 brand new locations across all 4 countries of the UK.

But before we get to that, a little reminder of what ESpark is all about:

The Entrepreneurial Spark programme is already the world’s largest freebusiness accelerator and currently takes place across 3 locations in Scotland namely Glasgow, Edinburgh and the West Coast.  

Their accelerator hubs are affectionately known as ‘Hatcheries’ and ‘Nests’ and aim to provide everything that a ‘chicklet’ business needs to grow and become more investable…(yes - they are very fond of their avian punnery).

Following in the footsteps of their 3 initial hubs, the 8 new locations being developed in partnership with Nat West, will offer support for thousands of entrepreneurs and high growth businesses.  Some of the key features this new partnership will create and maintain are;

• Multi-million pound regional support for thousands of entrepreneurs from any sector

• Free access to business accelerator hubs across the UK in NatWest premises

• Up to 18-months free programme of hands on mentoring, peer support and acceleration

• Over £1m of cash awards to UK entrepreneurs every year

• Regular educational and networking events 

• Builds on successful partnership with Entrepreneurial Spark in Scotland

Entrepreneurs from all industries will gain access to hubs in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester and Belfast,  totally free of charge - bloomin’ marvellous!  

CEO of Entrepreneurial Spark, Jim Duffy said: “Our work in Scotland has had a positive impact on the huge upsurge in the number of new business incorporations, and better still those who go through our programmes have an 80% survival  rate which is way above average. Our shared vision with NatWest is to create an entrepreneurial revival across the UK and we can’t wait to take our success story to benefit a wider audience.”

Hold your horses though, you’ll have to wait a little while yet as the new hubs are set to be rolled out over the coming two years, beginning with Birmingham, which will be opening in early 2015.  Applications are now open for the first Birmingham intake (and can be found here) or you can express interest in applying for one of the other locations here.

Everyone at Startacus would like to extend our hearty congrats to both Entrepreneurial Spark and Natwest on their new partnership - we can't wait to see what great new businesses you help to hatch and rear!

Pop over to the ESpark website for all the details.

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Published on: 7th October 2014