Growth-minded businesses and entrepreneurs in Cornwall are being invited to a business development masterclass.

Called Strategies for Success, the all day workshop is being delivered through the Beacon Pathfinder programme at Pool Innovation Centre on 24^th May.

Beacon Pathfinder identifies growth-minded businesses and entrepreneurs and helps them clarify their own ambitions and how to achieve them.

It is an extension of the Beacon peer-to-peer network, which was first set up in 2003 to identify, validate and bring together top performing businesses across the South West and now includes more than 200 companies.

Beacon it is run by Plymouth University and is a cornerstone of GAIN, the Growth Acceleration and Investment Network. GAIN has been established by Plymouth University, Plymouth City Council and Tamar Science Park to accelerate growth and investment in high quality businesses and ideas to create wealth and jobs in the South West.

Sue Baker, head of network development at Beacon, said: “This masterclass is aimed at those businesses and entrepreneurs that have an appetite for growth but may be unsure how to get there, and is a key part of our Beacon Pathfinder programme.

“We want to identify the leading businesses of tomorrow and bring them into a network of like-minded companies that can grow through shared experience. Our hope is that they can achieve full Beacon status and access the wider benefits of being plugged into GAIN.”

The masterclass is £250 for two people but some places are available free thanks to support from Unlocking Potential, the enterprise programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly delivered by Cornwall College and Plymouth University, which is also part of GAIN.

Among those attending the masterclass will be Martin Nixon, managing director of Nixon Design in Hayle.

Martin said: “We’re fortunate to have grown organically over the years and now employ 12 people, but we are keen to expand further. What I hope to get out of the masterclass is a clear direction on reaching our full potential, and what we have to do to get there.”

Facilitated by John McMahon of Cambridge-based Forum 21, the highly interactive workshops use tried and tested business diagnostic and development planning tools to help pose and answer four key questions of any business, namely:

• Where is the business right now?
• Where might it be in the medium term?
• What does it have to do to get there?
• And how can management make sure it actually happens?

The first Strategies for Success workshop will take place on Thursday 24^th May at Pool Innovation Centre.

For more information about the workshop including the free places available email Sue Baker at Beacon at he following address: [email protected]

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