Time to Thrive; Boost Liverpool Business

Despite the fact that around 15% of the UK population belong to ethnic minority communities, only 5% of small firms are led by teams where at least half of those at the top are from minority ethnic groups. Not only this, but most of these businesses are based in London (15%) and the West Midlands (7%).

Interestingly, the British Business Bank highlighted how black female business owners (37%), and female business owners from Asian and Other Ethnic Minority backgrounds (36%) experience the lowest levels of business success in the UK.

It is also important to highlight how “Liverpool is the home to the oldest black African community in the UK dating back to the 1730’s, yet there are only a few black-led businesses in the city region and very scarce information is available on black-led business enterprise activity,” said by Garth Dallas, head of collaborations at The Good Business Festival.

A project in collaboration with the Liverpool Mayor’s office. The Liverpool Mayor, Joanne Anderson, has aided us with the challenge of helping the BAME businesses in the Liverpool city region. You are tasked with sending in a video pitch (more details – how we can support) through handshake. This is a fantastic opportunity for those who have a passion for Liverpool, innovation, creativity, inclusion, idea generation, politics, business, or any other topic which this might come under.

Research undertaken by the Liverpool Mayors Office has found BAME entrepreneurs often face additional barriers when seeking to develop and grow new business/enterprises in the LCR. We are looking for ideas for new initiatives, campaigns, organisations, programmes, products or services to support the success of BAME-owned business in the region.

The Liverpool Mayors office is seeking to encourage more BAME business in the LCR. We are looking for new ideas to support the success of BAME-owned business in the region to reach this aim.

Proposals should consider some of the specific barriers faced by the BAME community:

-      Generational wealth

-      Social/business networks

-      BAME Role models

-      Access to training opportunities or awareness of grants/funding opportunities

-      Education

-      Community wealth building

-      Employment/enterprise skills

-      Lack of financial/business support

You must create a short 3-4-minute pitch on a solution to help BAME business in the Liverpool City Region. The pitch must include your idea, the problems/barriers which you are trying to solve/help, and the impacts your idea will have on the challenge at hand. The best pitches should include some form of research to support your campaign, programme, organisation etc.

All University of Liverpool undergraduates and postgraduates can take part in this opportunity. Pitches can be completed as individuals or in small groups. This is an amazing opportunity to help boost your CV with experiences and skills. We can’t wait to see what ideas you can come up with!

-      Gain experience working on an exciting project which is informed by real-world issues making an impact to the business culture within the Liverpool city region. This is highly attractive to graduate employers!

-      An opportunity to expand your knowledge and share great innovative ideas.

-      Increasing your skills in pitching, communication, creativity, presentation, confidence, commercial awareness, problem-solving and adaptability.

-      Gain a better understanding of the problems which BAME Business owners face and finding solutions to help their problems.

The top 3 pitches will be chosen by the Enterprise team at the University of Liverpool Careers and Employability department who will then be given the opportunity to pitch their idea to the Liverpool Mayor, Joanne Anderson who will pick the winner.

Prizes:

1st Place - £300 voucher

2nd Place - £200 voucher

3rd Place - £100 voucher 

For some guidance/tips on how to pitch, use this link - Top Tips on Pitching (Enterprise) - YouTube