Driving ambition is behind one of the latest entries in our Business Accelerators campaign – but there’s still one more day to become a candidate.
In just the past week alone, Christine Grocock of Drive By Websites Ltd has joined other small businesses from the area – Glass By DnR, Spalding Care Services Ltd, MRN Recruitment and GiftsOnline4U – who are all hoping to benefit from a free advertising campaign in the Guardian and our sister paper the Lincolnshire Free Press, as well as mentoring support from business leaders in the region.
Managing director Christine said: “Website development doesn’t come across as very glamorous and it’s difficult to effectively promote.
“Everyone, it would appear these days, can ‘build a website’ but we’ve genuinely got the expertise and will to succeed.
“It’s our mission to help the local small business owner beat the recession and make an impression with an affordable website, affordable online marketing and to make Spalding the ‘QR town of Lincolnshire’.”
Business Accelerators, which is backed by the Prime Minister, aims to promote firms aged between one and five years.
The campaign, organised by the Newspaper Society, is being replicated by more than 500 newspapers across the UK and the value of the advertising prize across all titles is calculated to be £15million.
Local Business Accelerators national ambassador Deborah Meaden, the entrepreneur and investor who appears on TV’s Dragons’ Den, will provide a year’s mentoring to the overall national winner, chosen from the regional finalists. It will also receive a local advertising campaign devised by a top London creative agency.
Last year, Green2Go, A Country Kitchen and BB Dyson won the Spalding Guardian’s award for South Lincolnshire.
The South Lincolnshire-based business mentors are Spalding Guardian and Lincolnshire Free Press editor Jeremy Ransome, Deborah Brown, of Roythornes solicitors, Keith Forrest, of NatWest bank, and Alistair Main, of Duncan and Toplis chartered accountants. They will form a judging panel to shortlist entries before awarding one local company with the prize of business advice and free advertising.
To enter the Local Business Accelerators competition, which is also being backed by Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, visit www.accelerateme.co.uk
The deadline for entries is today.