Catch the Wave — blog — Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership

Business support at the right time for those who need it

Brighton’s business support programme Catch the Wave received a 100% satisfaction rating from attendees in 2019.

Run by Brighton Chamber and supported by leading businesses including Kreston Reeves Accountants and Eagle Labs.

Alison Jones, partner at Kreston Reeves, said:

“We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to support this excellent programme which helps businesses in the City launch and grow. Daniel Daly and Jamie Servante from our Brighton team have actively taken part in the workshops by hosting a Q & A on finances at each session and received some superb feedback.”

Catch the Wave includes workshops for those looking to start a business and for early stage start-ups.

Next in the Catch the Wave series is: Smart Bidding: How to win contracts. This panel event on 15 November offers help with bidding for public sector and private sector contracts. The panel includes Brighton & Hove City Council, the University of Brighton and Gatwick Airport.

Chamber CEO Sarah Springford said ‘These sessions are a joy to organize and deliver because they are led by local businesses and supported by local case studies who generously share their advice and lessons learnt.’

The start-up sessions, led by Richard Freeman of always possible, sold out and will be repeated again in 2020.

A recent attendee said “Richard's delivery was excellent. Topics were covered in depth but also delivered with humour! The workshop was honestly one of the best I've been to.”

Catch the Wave workshop attendees can also access a free 1-to-1 mentoring session with a business expert of their choice and have the opportunity to build a free one-page website with Create.net.

To find out more see https://www.brightonchamber.co.uk/catch-the-wave

Smart Bidding panel includes Brighton Council, University of Brighton and Gatwick Airport

Next in the Catch the Wave series is a panel and workshop event called Smart Bidding: How to win contracts.

On 15 November, this event is designed to help attendees learn how to bid for public sector and private sector contracts.

Chaired by Emma Mills-Sheffield of Mindsetup, the panel include:

• Julian Wood - Head of Procurement & Insurance Services at University of Brighton

• Cliff Youngman and Claire Hutchinson - Procurement Managers at Brighton & Hove City Council

• Karen Brown - Head of Procurement at Gatwick Airport

The session will cover:

• Finding out about where tendering opportunities come from

• Qualification - to bid or not to bid

• Navigating the supply chain and procurement maze

• An insight into procurement policies in the public and private sector - both large and small organisations

• Practical advice on preparing to tender, writing bids with impact and preparing for your pitch

• Q&A with procurement experts

To book Smart Bidding and to find out more about this event, head here.

To find out more about Catch the Wave visit the Chamber website here.