Striding Out provides an innovative and consistent range of services for young entrepreneurs, which go far beyond standard business support. We focus on developing a young individual's personal skills, as well as professional acumen, through offering a varied range of services that are tailored to whether the businesses are at the idea or growth stage.

We are looking for opportunities to promote and expand Striding Out across the UK, and we are keen to work with business support agencies to add value to your current service offer. Here's how we can work with you:

• Referral Relationship - We can provide your organisation with a Striding Out promotional packs containing marketing material such as posters, postcards and business cards, which can be distributed to your clients. We manage an online network of young entrepreneurs, and we are dedicated to connecting young dynamic people together. As a broker you can signpost clients to our site. Some of the organisations, we currently work with include The Princes Trust, Social Enterprise London, UnLtd, Nesta.
• Training - We run peer to peer learning programmes with interactive training, using real life casestudies. We deliver half day or one day Masterclasses and Weekend Retreats in Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneuership and Social Entrepreneurship to a wide ranging audience including young people in academia, businesses and corporates.
  Alongside this we deliver specialist workshops in conjunction with our experts - these include Creating and Defining Your Brand, Investment Readiness, Achieve Ultimate Impact (PR and Marketing), Managing Leadership, and Growth and Franchising. You can contract us to deliver some of your training requirements.
• Coaching Delivery - We provide Business Action Coaching programmes, which are tailored to meet the needs of entrepreneurs at the different stages of their business journey. We provide an extra pillar of support and a networking resource for our clients. Their needs are at the heart of our delivery. We can work with clients across the UK and Internationally as we provide the Business Action Programmes via the telephone and email, or alternatively we are interested in hearing about opportunities to develop the Striding Out team, with the potential to add a new team member to your current business support service.

Striding Out works in association with other consultancies and organisations to provide consultancy expertise on enterprise related matters, in particular social and youth enterprise. We work with young entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs on a daily basis, and they provide a sounding board for research and opportunities.

The team has a range of research experience in Social Enterprise and Start-up Business Support, working previously for Business Links, DTI and Local Authorities over the last five years.

Our most recent Consultancy Projects include:-

• The Enterprise Culture Policy Retreat on 12-13 October 2006, hosted by HM Treasury and the Small Business Service, an agency of the DTI. Heather Wilkinson is one of thirty individuals from across the UK, invited to the retreat to discuss a fresh and critical perspective to the challenge of creating a step change in enterprise culture in the UK.
• Research for the Newham LEGI Proposal into matters relating to social, female and young entrepreneurship.
• A feasibility study into the development of a Young Entrepreneur Incubator Centre in Bexley, in conjunction with MacKinnon Partnership.
• Working for The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and UnLtd on developing new learning programmes for Social Entrepreneurs.
• Undertaking a Market Intelligence Study for Young Entrepreneurs in London for London Business Link in conjuncton with Tribal SDP.

Previous Consultancy Work that staff have been engaged in:-

• Review of the National Social Enterprise Strategy, DTi. Working for GHK to reviewing the five year strategy and business support services for social enterprise
• Gloucestershire Skills First Evaluation, Gloucestershire LSC. Working for EDAW, to undertake the evaluation of the Skills First Project. The project focussed on raising training and skills levels amongst SME�s in the Manufacturing and Engineering Sector.
• Models of Social Enterprise for the CVS in Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire Co-Operative Development Agency. Working for EDAW to research and develop a framework for community and voluntary organisations to assess suitability to adopt a social enterprise model.
• First Steps for Business in Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire Business Support Network. Working for EDAW to map and review support for new business start-ups in Northamptonshire, to advise on improving the existing support infrastructure
• Tyne and Wear Social Entrepreneurship Study, Business Link Tyne and Wear. Working for EDAW to map and review social enterprise activity and support infrastructure across Tyne and Wear, and to create a set of recommendations for re-shaping support.
• Basildon Enterprise/Innovation Park, English Partnerships. Working for EDAW to undertake a feasibility study for the development of an enterprise/ innovation park.
• Business in the Community. Commissioned to undertake a review and best practice guide into Corporate Engagement with the Black and Minority Ethnic Community, to inform the BITC Publication, �Business Action on Neighbourhood Renewal�.

If you would like to engage Striding Out or our clients in a piece of research or consultancy work then please do get in touch.

We work in partnership with other organisations, to inspire, support and develop the skills of young entrepreneurs. We look to partner organisations to jointly bid and deliver enterprise support programmes, or compliment an organisation's existing service.

• University Talent - Striding Out has been working in partnership with West Focus, a consortium of seven Univerisities across South West London, to help engage social enterprises and small businesses in recruiting student talent. Striding Out was contracted to deliver their service in the business community, actively promoting and connecting businesses to the student workforce.
• YES: Young Enterprising Skills Consortium - YES was founded in September 2005 by Striding Out to work with different partners to run a range of enterprising programmes, events and activities, to develop a young person's interest and knowledge about self employment. The activities work with young people in education, to help them develop enterprising projects. The first YES programme has been working with Forum for the Future Scholars, Hackney Skinner School for Girls, and Futerra to develop a Sustainable Education Programme for 14-18 year olds. Plans are currently being put in place to pilot the project in 2007.

Striding Out delivers education workshops to both Secondary Education and Higher Education.[ Striding Out delivers Enterprise Workshops within Universities to inspire and inform students about the possibilities and opportunities surrounding self-employment.

Past Clients include Kingston University, Roehampton University, Thames Valley University, University of East London and City University.

'Heather is a likeable speaker - her delivery is down-to-earth and the content of her workshops are relevant and accessible. I would certainly recommend her.' - Charlene Edwards, Kingston University

Striding Out is also delivers Enterprise Programme within Schools with its members. As a team of young social entrepreneurs we put an exciting twist into Enterprising Education.

Striding Out and Reclaim Fashion recently worked with Bexley Education Business Partnership to help deliver a Fashion Enterprise Day for a Girls High School in Bexley.

'We all thought it was a great day. Thank you for your help, I'm sure you have got a lot students thinking about a career in the fashion industry. You really worked hard and your presentation was very inspiring.' Janet Naish, Bexley EDP.