A nationwide initiative to link aspiring entrepreneurs with local business leaders is launching today in Nottingham.
Gazelle Local – the latest spinout from the pioneering Gazelle Group – aims to integrate grassroots entrepreneurship into further education, by creating a network of business owners who will collaborate with their local colleges.
It is hoped that the scheme will build upon existing community networks, and encourage local entrepreneurs to share their success with aspiring students through mentoring, sponsorship and seed funding.
Launching at New College Nottingham today, Gazelle Local will kick off with an event run entirely by students, to showcase their ability to organise events and handle other business tasks.
Michael Hayman, co-founder of StartUp Britain, is among the entrepreneurial ambassadors who have pledged their support to Gazelle, and will be attendance at the launch event alongside local Nottingham business leaders Mitch Stevenson OBE and Matt Rose, a former New College Nottingham apprentice.
Amarjit Basi, co-founder of Gazelle and principal of New College Nottingham said: “We are ambitious about raising the aspirations of our students with a new spirit of entrepreneurship that will bring dynamism to their careers and to the local economy.
“We are inviting local entrepreneurs and philanthropists to work with us to deliver and support a new generation of enterprising students who can help re-energise Nottingham’s economic prosperity.”