TechBlast UK

"The openness and willingness to share their experiences and help others was off the charts.” Tech companies attending masterclasses at FUEL Manchester 2024 last week came away armed with invaluable advice for scaling their businesses. The event – sponsored by GM Business Growth Hub, Bruntwood SciTech and The University of Salford Business School - began with a business breakfast before around 30 startups and scaleups gained direct access to 12 experts in ‘ask me anything’ masterclass pods. The growth planning experts were Dez Derry, Andrew Duckworth & Adam Ward; Guy Remond, Charlotte Ashton & Frazer Durris offered funding advice; people & performance featured Janine Smith, Mehdi Kordi & Beckie Taylor; while the tech experts were Dr Richard Whittle, Anna Dick & George Goudie. Dr Martin Caton of Low Carbon Electric Limited found the back stories of both Derry and Remond “inspirational”. Lisa McCartney of Plytime said Derry’s background was particularly interesting as the #EdTech works with children in care via virtual schools - and he could be a fantastic role model for them. Alexandra Morris of Habeo said the key piece of advice she took away was "be careful focusing on one corporate contract as it may consume too much time and effort and not come to pass. Survival isn’t a strategy!” Blal Choudhry of Flight Patrol said he learned "to be selective about who you work with – and that it’s all about execution”. Chi-chi Armstrong (née Ekweozor) of Attendist said Ashton understood the startup's fundraising situation while all the experts had "so much rich, lived-in experience... the openness and willingness to share their experiences and help others was off the charts”. Dominic Appleby of H2Origin Refills said Durris’s advice to build a compelling story surrounding your business – which he'd heard elsewhere before – "put more context around the ‘why’," adding: "I liked the fact that the mentors were approachable.” Greg Tattersall of Icon Sports Group said the people and performance pod provided the most relevant information, given its present situation: “I enjoyed Mehdi, who provided real-world advice, while Janine also had some very relevant experience.” Pimberly CFO Paul Cook singled out that masterclass in providing “good coverage of the current challenges facing businesses of all sizes and types” while Ashton's understanding of the business "offered a tailored insight". Phil Gold of ZAPT is hopeful of collaborating with Dr Whittle at Salford, adding: "There was lots of valuable advice. I found all of the sessions really useful and interesting.” https://lnkd.in/e2ZcaKQr

Ahead of speaking on the panel at #FuelManchester this Wednesday, The University of Salford's Dr Richard Whittle shares his thoughts on how we should be thinking about #artificialintelligence. Check it out over on BusinessCloud here: https://lnkd.in/e6RZ2HaV https://lnkd.in/gVngfgBt

More than 170 people have registered for FUEL Manchester 2024 - but a handful of places are still available 👇

Massive week ahead with BusinessCloud's FUEL Manchester event taking place on October 16th. FUEL is unique in the events circuit as it's two events in one. It starts with a business breakfast and is followed by a series of masterclasses, where a select cohort of businesses get in front of a series of experts. One of the speakers I'm most looking forward to interviewing is Mehdi Kordi, who is the former head coach of the Olympic Dutch cycling team. He's never ridden a racing bike but has helped eight different riders to Olympic and World Championship medals, including the recent Paris Olympics. A lot of the lessons learnt in elite sport can be applied to business and Kordi has broken down success into four parts: 1. Star performers don’t always make great leaders; 2. Plan backwards, not forwards to achieve your goals; 3. Major gains vs marginal gains; and 4. A ‘win at all cost’ mentality is flawed. He's written a fascinating insights piece on this and I can't wait for him to share his theory at FUEL Manchester. Other speakers include: Steve Byrne, CEO, Travel Counsellors; Clare Roberts OBE, founder & CEO, Kids Planet Day Nurseries; Liz Ashall-Payne, founder & CEO, ORCHA; Dez Derry, founder, Blume; Frazer Durris, co-founder, Businesswise Solutions; founder, Trigpoint Ventures; and Isobelle Panton. Whatever you're doing, have a great week. https://lnkd.in/eWjcxGzD

You may have a vision for your growing business – but do you have a vision board? Dez Derry has been through the process of founding, scaling and exiting a tech company with Blume. He says founders should consider what they are looking to achieve financially, professionally and personally - then work it back from there. “When you know the year that your business is going to hit that number, then start speaking to corporate finance advisors and produce a sales document to tease potential buyers with,” is his advice. Dez will join ORCHA founder Liz Ashall-Payne and Airtime founder Adam Ward as an expert on the 'growth planning' pod at FUEL Manchester 2024 next week - an innovative event supported by GM Business Growth Hub, Bruntwood SciTech & The University of Salford Business School. “Have a clear goal of what you want to achieve with your exit,” is Ashall-Payne's advice. “Start planning early, understand the market, identify potential buyers and shape your growth strategy to make the business attractive to them." Ward says founders should focus on “building a strong team and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation, failing fast, learning and executing”, adding: “Surround yourself with people who complement your skills, share your vision, and can help the business fulfil its purpose.” Register for FUEL Manchester and read more advice 👇 https://lnkd.in/eBeXtfsh

Are you building tech for tech's sake - or have you identified a problem to solve? That's the question posed by CTOs Anna Dick (Capsule) and George Goudie (Dote) ahead of FUEL Manchester 2024 next week. Both will serve as experts on the ‘technology’ masterclass at the event hosted by Bruntwood SciTech for BusinessCloud's events arm TechBlast and supported by GM Business Growth Hub & The University of Salford Business School. There are still limited places available. “Don’t just go straight into thinking you need to build something," is Dick's key tip. “There is so much value in really understanding your user needs and the problem you are trying to solve. "This can help you start small and iterate out versions with some real customers to get feedback.” Goudie adds: “It’s vital that a founder has identified a problem and is developing a solution to address it, rather than finding a problem to apply their solution to. "Building prototypes and minimum viable products to put in front of your potential customers is then essential." https://lnkd.in/eDyzYpnE

"If you choose the wrong investor, there's no going back." Frazer Durris sold the business he mapped out with Dean Cockett on a kitchen table in 2010 in a multi-million-pound deal three years ago. Now the founder of Trigpoint Ventures, he is set to pass on his knowledge at FUEL Manchester 2024 - a unique event on 16th October supported by GM Business Growth Hub, Bruntwood SciTech and Salford Business School at The University of Salford. Frazer will join Guy Remond and David Levine in giving a select group of growing businesses advice in funding masterclasses. Among other nuggets of wisdom, he tells us: “You have to meet investors, understand their values and investment objectives and be absolutely clear on what the impact or influence will be on you and the business. “Speak to other businesses they have invested in and get a good advisor. Take your time, ask lots of questions, get to know them." Places are still available for the breakfast audience and masterclasses. Register 👇 https://lnkd.in/ewbJjUQ6

Want to succeed in business? Be the purple cow. 🦙 Celia Gaze 🦙 MBA says businesses need to stand out from their rivals if they want to succeed. She’s the founder of The Wellbeing Farm : B Corp Certified venue experience in Edgeworth, near Blackburn, which employs 30 people and has a turnover of more than £1m. Asked for her advice to other entrepreneurs, she said: “You’ve got to stand out and differentiate your business from the crowd – be the purple cow." The venue is powered by a wind turbine and is famous for its llamas, alpacas and even a sheep called Sandra! Gaze praised the help she’s received from Boost; Lancashire's Business Growth Hub, which has included mentoring, guidance and support through Covid. https://lnkd.in/eQFpxUfH

GM Business Growth Hub has revealed the 25 businesses which will make up the first cohort for its ASCEND Scale Up Programme. The businesses – across multiple sectors including #AI & #robotics, #cybersecurity, fashion & beauty, #FinTech, renewable energy and #SaaS – will come together for a launch event this evening which kicks off six months of support delivered in partnership with KPMG UK. As part of the programme, they will attend Web Summit in Portugal in November. Congratulations to: 30Seconds Group Carrs Pasties Ltd CDD Services Circle of Trust CODE Beautiful Digitech Oasis MADE BY ZEN LONDON Flight Patrol H2Origin Refills Icon Sports Group Mercury Support MP&Co | B Corp™ NADINE MERABI Parker Neal Limited Perfect Sense Energy Pimberly Pixeltree Pet Trust Uk Shopblocks Specscart. Sticky The Creative Composite - Dental Marketing Agency Wolf Network Security LTD zally® ZAPT More details 👇 https://lnkd.in/eADsGetg

Today we can reveal our full line-up of experts for the growth masterclasses at FUEL Manchester 2024 next month. Supported by GM Business Growth Hub, Bruntwood SciTech and The University of Salford Business School, the event will see 25+ startups and scaleups meet these experts in a series of ask-me-anything sessions across funding, growth planning, people & performance and technology. More than 100 people have already registered for the breakfast panel, hosted by Christopher Maguire, which precedes it. Funding experts: Guy Remond, founder, EHE Ventures David Levine, MD, Glenluna Ventures / principal, Manchester Angels Frazer Durris, founder, Trigpoint Ventures Technology experts: Dr Richard Whittle, #AI and dark patterns expert, The University of Salford Anna Dick, CTO, Capsule George Goudie, CTO, Dote (rebranded from Aibytech) & fractional CTO People & performance experts: Mehdi Kordi PhD, head of sprint performance for the Netherlands cycling team at the recent Paris 2024 Olympic Games Janine Smith, director, GM Business Growth Hub Beckie Taylor, co-founder, Tech Returners Isobelle Panton, director of student recruitment and international, University Academy 92 (UA92) Growth planning experts: Liz Ashall-Payne, founder & CEO, ORCHA Dez Derry, investor and founder of Blume Andrew Duckworth, co-founder, eComplete Group Adam Ward, founder & CEO, Airtime There are still places available for both the breakfast panel audience and on the cohort - sign up now 👇 https://lnkd.in/eKApyiq7