Sutton wins Small Business Friendly Borough Award 2017

Heather Evans and Sarah Lomax from the Opportunity Sutton Team with Cllr Amy Haldane

I was very pleased to hear that Sutton was joint winner with Lambeth for the Small Business Friendly Borough Award presented by London Councils and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Our award was for the ‘Best Programme of Support’ by our Opportunity Sutton Team for the Pop Up Sutton Entrepreneurs Market.

Pop Up Sutton is an initiative to enable entrepreneurs to get a foot on the business ladder.

Over the course of the 18-month programme participants are able to access a series of workshops and one-to-one advice sessions designed to guide entrepreneurs through the process of setting up and running a business. Once a month a free pop-up stall is also provided to give entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their products or services to a ready made audience in Sutton town centre.

The scheme has been developed by Opportunity Sutton as part of its remit to stimulate and support new business in the borough.

We have had excellent feedback from participants in the scheme saying how much they have learnt that has enabled them to establish their business and develop their product lines.

There were 18 nominations for this category – the highest number of nominations, with 9 shortlisted, so congratulations Sutton for this achievement.