Enterprising Ashfield

With Ashfield District Council – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

Got an idea for a new business but not sure where to start?

Then our HeadStart programme could be just for you! With one-to-one guidance, workshops, support and a £500 grant our team can help you build a business plan and get started.

HeadStart is part of the Enterprising Ashfield project (funded by Ashfield District Council) which also offers support to local businesses in the area. You can find out more about the project and HeadStart here 👉 https://www.ntu.ac.uk/business-and-employers/financial-and-funded-support/enterprising-ashfield

EXCITING NEWS!

We're so pleased to announce that thanks to funding from Ashfield District Council, as part of their successful Towns Fund bid, the Enterprising Ashfield project has been extended!

Delivered by our team from Nottingham Trent University, it was originally scheduled to conclude on 31 March 2026, however the project will now continue until the end of September 2026. This extension allows us to keep delivering impact through three key strands...

R&D Collaborations - teaming local businesses up with experts in their field to develop new products or processes to save businesses time and money.

Business Growth - helping businesses to review and grow with a programme of bespoke support.

Headstart – working with local entrepreneurs to help get their business ideas off the ground with advice, coaching and a £500 startup grant.

To date the Enterprising Ashfield project has delivered over 240 free short courses and upskilled over 1,000 Ashfield residents. Over 225 residents have already completed the HeadStart programme and received the grant to get them started with their new business plans and over 170 businesses have worked with the team.

If you’ve got a business idea but not sure where to start, or work for/own a business that could benefit from some support and fresh insights get in touch with the team at [email protected]

Dusting off the CV? New year new job?

If you're thinking about starting the hunt for a new job why not sign up for our free, online, self-paced WORK READY SKILLS course.

The course helps you to understand and respond to job ads, writing applications and CVs and developing interview skills.

This is just one of our final free courses available which you can do online in your own time (we just ask that you start the course within one week of your enrolment date). Other courses available are...

📱Digital Marketing - New Trends and Technologies
📊Excel Skills to Make an Impression
👫People Management Skills
🧑‍💼Leadership Tools for Ethical Problem-Solving
📈Intro to Big Data - Aligning Strategy, Analytics & Operations
💷Intro to FinTech and Financial Innovation

Great for your CV or just to refresh existing skills but hurry as these courses won't be available for much longer. Full details for each course and the link to sign up can be found here 👉 https://www.ntu.ac.uk/business-and-employers/financial-and-funded-support/enterprising-ashfield/enterprising-ashfield-courses-and-professional-development

Happy new year everyone!

Get 2026 off to a winning start and get nominating for one of the Mansfield and Ashfield Business Network awards.

Proud of your own business - self nominations welcome!
Want to shout about a local business - nominate them today!

Award categories include...

🏆 Best small business
🏆 Best family business
🏆 Business of the year
🏆 Business person of the year
🏆 Community impact award
🏆 Customer service award
🏆 New business award
🏆 Excellence in manufacturing
🏆 Environmental, green and sustainability
🏆 Best trainee/apprentice award
🏆 Best hospitality award
🏆 Best trades business award
🏆 Best independent retail award

The awards are free to enter and every vote counts! Full details and nominations can be submitted here https://mabn.co.uk/mansfield-and-ashfield-business-network-awards-2026/

We'd like to take the chance to wish all our and all the businesses & individuals we've worked with across the area a very restful Christmas.

The team have been blown away, yet again, by the breadth of expertise and entrepreneurial spirit across the Kirkby and Sutton areas - amazing to see the talent we have here right on our doorstep.

Hope everyone can take a little time to unwind and recharge, ready for an exciting 2026!

See you next year,
From all the Enterprising Ashfield team 😊

Are you heading to the Kirkby lights switch on tonight?🎄

Keep your eyes peeled for some festive window art we've commissioned at the following stores, by the fabulous window artist Reggie Pugh (aka Window Woman!)...

🍰 Moor Cafe, 5 Low Moor Road
☕️ Hoppers and latte , 25 Station Street
🐶 Taylors Corn Stores - Kirkby, 22 Kingsway
🦽 Prime Mobility, 32 Low Moor Road
🧁 Anemona Sweets, 1 Station Road
🕯️ Unique Mizzle, 36 Low Moor Road
☕️ Brew-It, 40 Kingsway
🏆 Show Stoppers Ltd, 7 Urban Road
👓 D.I.Blow Opticians, 40 Station Street

Visit them all to check out their sparkly new window displays!
Kirkby in Ashfield Shops

So lovely to receive feedback like this and to see the impact our project has had 🥰

Anna Scothern, Founder and Director of Longwood Maven, attended a number of our free courses and took part in our Growth Programme, led by our fabulous Business Advisor Adrian.

Longwood Maven Ltd is a small strategic consultancy based in Ashfield. They work nationally across the home improvement and construction sectors, supporting organisations to build stronger, more sustainable businesses, through brand strategy, workforce development and communications.

We'll be sharing more of these over the coming weeks and would love to get feedback from anyone who has completed one of our courses, HeadStart programme or accessed any of our business support strands. There's a quick survey you can complete here 👉 bit.ly/EAsurvey25

If you've been on one of our free courses or you/your business have worked with a member of our team to receive some support we'd love to hear from you!

We'd be really grateful if you could take a few minutes to fill in the feedback form linked below to tell us how you found the support.

You might be an individual who has taken part in one of our short courses to improve your skills, you might be an entrepreneur who has been supported on your journey towards setting up a new business, or you might be an existing business owner or manager who has received support to recruit graduates, support apprenticeships, deliver bespoke training for your staff, grow your business, or undertake an innovation, research and development project with the NTU academic team.

Complete the feedback form here 👉 bit.ly/EAsurvey25

Still haven't done one of our FREE short courses? Times ticking!⏰

We're now down to our last courses being offered to local residents and businesses in the Kirkby and Sutton Towns Fund area, starting over the next couple of weeks, then that's it!

👩‍🏫 In-person at the Summit Centre, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
💻 Live online via Microsoft Teams
🖊 Complete in your own time via digital learning platform FutureLearn

Take a look at the final course listing, check your availability and sign up for a place here 👉 https://www.ntu.ac.uk/business-and-employers/financial-and-funded-support/enterprising-ashfield/enterprising-ashfield-courses-and-professional-development