Stevenage 75th anniversary magazine | biz4Biz - Magazine - Page 56
Wenta
Homegrown business support
in Stevenage
In 2019, Stevenage resident, Lee Robbins,
set up his own data intelligence business
with the help of social enterprise, Wenta,
who manage The Business & Technology
Centre (btc) on Bessemer Drive, on behalf
of Stevenage Borough Council. Wenta has
been supporting residents and businesses
across Stevenage and across the home
counties since 1983.
Making use of Wenta’s free and impartial
business advice, skills training workshops,
workspace and a match-funded start-up
grant of £3,000, Lee has never looked
back since starting up his own business,
BI Data Intelligence.
Fully experienced in his industry and
trade, Lee was up to speed on everything
he needed to know about his service and
product, but was unsure on the particular
steps he needed to take in terms of
starting and running the business itself.
Finding out about Wenta’s free business
start-up services, he made contact with
the team and has since then benefited
from the one-to-one advice, support and
workspace services on offer.
Commenting on the programme, Lee
said:
“Through Wenta’s free programme, I’ve
attended their training workshops on
setting my business up, developing my
website and social media for business. I’ve
had plenty of advice from their advisors
Lee Robbins, BI Data Intelligence
56
and also taken up their offer of free coworking space at the btc on Bessemer
Drive – it’s been great.”
Needing to get some further consultancy
advice on setting up his own website and
social media, Lee applied for Wenta’s
‘Hertfordshire Start-up Programme
Grant’ and was successful. Lee said:
“I was able to get £3,000 (match-funded)
to cover the costs of the consultancy
support which has been so valuable. I
now have a website set up and someone
managing my social media. I recommend
anyone thinking of starting a business to
get in touch with Wenta as they’ve been a
complete lifeline for me.”
Wenta has been managing the btc in
Stevenage since 2009 and, since then,
have supported over 2200 local residents
and businesses to start-up or grow. They
are currently home to 246 local businesses
w w w. b i z 4 b i z . o r g
and remain a vital part of the Stevenage
community. Working together with
Stevenage Borough Council over the
years, the btc has also attracted a wide
variety of guests and visitors including
HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
and Jeremy Corbyn.
Commenting on Stevenage New Town’s
75th Anniversary, Wenta’s CEO, Ed
Jordan said:
“Stevenage – it’s a place we feel proud to
be supporting. Over the years, we’ve seen
the area go from strength-to-strength and
we are honoured to have played our part
in this. Here’s to many more successful
years for Stevenage.”
For more information on Wenta visit:
www.wenta.co.uk
To explore the btc, visit
www.btcstevenage.co.uk