Helping to Build a Business

A SPECIAL partnership has been forged to help nurture new business in the Tees Valley.

Erimus Housing has teamed up with University of the Year Teesside University to offer graduates a helping hand in starting up a company of their own. 

As part of Erimus’ Bohouse scheme, which will provide 20 vital live/work units for graduates from the creative and digital industries, the University is offering a range of business support programmes to help graduates setting up in business for the first time. 

The schemes means graduates living in Bohouse would be offered a package of support including coaching and mentoring and a range of training sessions such as accounting. 

Chris Smith, Managing Director of Erimus Housing, part of Fabrick Housing Group, said: “This partnership means graduates don’t need to go it alone when starting up a new business; there is a raft of support to help them succeed and thrive. 

“Not only will these units offer home comforts and living space, most of all they will be affordable to help nurture fledgling businesses.” 

Erimus Housing has received funding from the Homes and Communities Agency, the national body providing funding for affordable housing across the country, to create Bohouse, which will enable graduates to stay in the area and start up businesses of their own. 

The scheme is part of the Boho zone which forms part of the acclaimed DigitalCity development, a new creative quarter in the heart of the town. 

Bohouse is one of the first of its kind in the UK, with each apartment having a double bedroom and living area with kitchen and bathroom, as well as a workspace into which the front door opens. 

Potential tenants will need to apply for an interview and make a proposal to show how their work is involved with the digital media sector and how they can fit into the DigitalCity network. 

Reuben Tabner, a photographer welcoming the Bohouse development, said: "I have lived and worked throughout Britain and Europe, but this is a great area to be in now and somewhere I have always wanted to move back to. 

“This offers a great opportunity and encourages business start up, especially with its great links to Boho One next door.” 

Graduates moving into a property within Bohouse will be able to access Teesside University’s business development services, which are funded by the European Regional Development Fund, so they can access as much, or as little, support as they need to help them succeed. 

Currently, the university runs a business incubation facility, which offers a full business development support service including subsidised office space for 18 months, as well as virtual incubation which provides full business development support without the office accommodation.  

For those people who simply want to update their business skills they can take part in the Enterprise Development Programme training workshops which cover all aspects of essential business training. 

Over 30 new businesses go through the university’s incubation scheme every year and on average, 300 people take part in the Enterprise Development Programme each year. 

Eileen Wicks, Enterprise Support Operations Manager for the university’s scheme, said: “We offer a full range of support tools which can be as intensive as the graduate needs them to be. 

“The beauty of our programme is that we can match the training and support to the individual’s needs, everyone is different, and that is why our business support service is so flexible.”