The Business Enterprise Centre, Hammersmith & Fulham’s business support agency, has been honoured for its work with black businesspeople after winning an award last night at the London African & Caribbean Entrepreneurs (LACE) awards.
BEC, based in Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, was nominated in the category of ‘Business Support’ at last night’s ceremony, which took place at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel and was organised by the African Caribbean Business Network. Orin Miller, BEC’s centre manager, received the award in the presence of Rev Jesse Jackson, the keynote speaker.
BEC, which assists people from all backgrounds to start up their own business, was particularly commended for its Surviving into the Mainstream or ‘SIM’ programme, which provides one-to-one and online support to women- and ethnic minority-owned businesses that have been trading for between six months and three years, often a critical period in the development of a business.
Letitia Stenning, from Hammersmith, nominated BEC for the LACE Awards after taking part in the SIM programme whilst establishing Stenning Consultancy, her HR training and advice firm. “I had been planning the launch of Stenning Consultancy for about six months when I first went to see an advisor at BEC,” she says. “I attended their Introduction to Enterprise seminar and found it incredibly helpful – it covered every aspect of working for yourself, from marketing, to tax, to pricing – and then joined the SIM programme, which was the best business support package I’d ever come across; the one-to-one coaching was excellent, and the ability to get feedback online meant you were never on your own. I would have been gutted if BEC hadn’t won the award last night, because I don’t think anyone does business support better than them.”
Cllr Dame Sally Powell, deputy for regeneration and Chair of Regenasis, says: “I’m really pleased that the Business Enterprise Centre has been recognised for its excellent work. BEC assists dozens of local residents each year to launch viable, well organised businesses, and continues to support them during those first difficult years of trading. In this way BEC is helping to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship right across the community, even amongst people whose backgrounds may have previously held them back.”
March 13, 2005
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