The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 33: Oct/Nov 2017 | Page 4

BUSINESS NEWS Ambitious businesses invited to launch of the Scale Up Hub Inspire – the organisation that has been at the heart of the Wiltshire business community for almost 25 years – has been chosen to launch a new Scale Up Hub to provide support and expertise to ambitious, growing companies across the south west region. The fi rst of those launches will take place in Swindon on Tuesday October 31 at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre, Lydiard Fields and, as part of the Scale Up Hub initiative, some of those companies will be eligible to apply immediately for the prestigious Goldman Sachs “10,000 Small Business” programme. Inspire has become the offi cial partner of the Goldman Sachs’ programme which will be rolled out across the South West this year and during 2018. The programme provides high quality practical education tailored to the needs of business leaders. It offers over 100 hours of teaching designed by leading experts and delivered by Said Business School, the University of Oxford, Aston University and the University of Leeds. Rob Perks said: “We are delighted to announce we are partnering with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business programme – designed to provide invaluable hands-on advice, support, planning and mentoring to business owners ambitious to learn and scale up.” Scale Up Swindon will also offer access - not only to the Goldman Sachs’ programme for those who qualify - but also to the best resources and expertise available in the area to allow an ambitious growing business to fast track to greater success. On the day guests will hear from the Inspire team, successful Scale Up entrepreneurs, a Goldman Sachs expert and speakers from Barclays Bank, the Department for International Trade and Switch On To Swindon. Registration opens at 8.30am with the event starting at 9am and ending at approximately 1pm. Rob Perks said: “Inspire has always brought together leaders of high growth businesses in a unique way to learn from each other and from a wide range of experts. We connect businesses rapidly and effi ciently to all the publicly and privately funded sources of support as well as world class commercial experts.” Anyone interested in attending this event can register by emailing: [email protected] or call Julie Smith on 07739 791415. For more info: www.inspirebiz.co.uk HYDROGEN HUB CELEBRATES SWINDON’S KEY ROLE IN “MOTORING REVOLUTION” Swindon’s place as a national centre for hydrogen powered car technology was celebrated by Hydrogen Hub at Lydiard House recently with a conference and showcasing of the various hydrogen vehicles that are currently available. Among the vehicles to line up outside the building were two hydrogen-powered Hyundai iX35 SUVs from local Swindon dealership, Pebley Beach. Meanwhile, inside, business leaders heard about Swindon’s ambition to be a pioneer in trialling the new technology widely expected to replace petrol engines and diesel in the future. According to Pebley Beach, the tanks of hydrogen vehicles – which use the gas to charge a battery – can be refi lled in fi ve minutes or less, and offer a range of “hundreds of miles.” Swindon already has one hydrogen refuelling station at the Honda manufacturing plant and a second, near Junction 16 off the M4, will be installed soon. The conference gave Swindon business leaders the chance to hear from other local companies that are already using hydrogen vehicles. The conference heard from National Trust procurement specialist, Steve Harland, who said the conservation charity has an “ambitious target” to halve its dependency on fossil fuels by 2020 and claimed that being part of Swindon Hydrogen hub fi tted in with its intention of investing in renewable technology. Steve explained, “as the infrastructure develops, with more hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK, we’ll be able to use our hydrogen iX35 to travel to and from an ever increasing number of our sites. In the fi rst three months of having the car, nine of our staff have clocked up 1,500 miles, and they’ve all given positive feedback.” Clare Jackson, programme manager for the Hydrogen Hub, said it was the group’s intention to make Swindon “a hydrogen economy.” According to Clare, a new £23m grant scheme has been announced from the Government’s Offi ce for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to fund new fuelling stations and business fl eets. Up to 75 percent of the cost of a hydrogen-powered vehicle could be met by government funding, and interested businesses were invited to submit their applications through the Hub. www.adpilot.co.uk 01225 618 030 Google AdWords campaigns piloted by experts. 4 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 Find out how we can take your AdWords campaign to new heights.