Looking back at 2017 – Happy New Year!

The festive season is finally over and, we can now look back on 2017 as a very good business year, including all of the following:

Our 3-day training course has been fully booked every month and we have had at least 95% occupancy rate in our offices at Park House and Weatherill House.

We appeared at around 80 events across 17 networking platforms.  This included pop-up hubs at local banks, speaking to the general public at Purley Festival, supporting organisations such as the Small Businesses Commission, FSB, Croydon Chamber of Commerce, Develop Croydon, Shaking Hands and the Good Employer Charter.

Taking our Marketing function in-house enabled us to deliver a number of our own events across the year and also host events for a number of external associations.  The Business Advice and Life / Work Balance Day held in September attracted visitors from all over London, Kent and Surrey.

Launching the SEEK Project at the beginning of the year with two Roadshows, gave even more credibility to our brand.  Designed for the unemployed or socially inactive, we were able to take 12 candidates onto the training programme, with 7 going through to complete the course.  During Croydon Business Month, we were able to showcase our activities by taking part in Social Saturday at the Whitgift Centre, in association with Carol Squires, Economic Development Manager at Croydon Council.

We were proud to sponsor the Mayor’s Civic Awards in the category of Business in the Community – and the Winner …….. Chequers Contract Services, for their continued efforts towards recruitment and development in the Croydon Community.

In May, we achieved the accolade of becoming an accredited Good Employer.  The charter recognises companies who pay the living wage, employ locally, buy locally and include all (equality policy)

On a roll, we made it to the “Finalists” stage in the Croydon Business Excellence Awards in the category of Best Charity or Social Enterprise.  Up against some incredible opposition, it was New Addington Pathfinders who took the trophy on the night.

And finally, at the end of the year, the cherry on the cake for us was winning the National Enterprise Network award for Enterprise Engagement that celebrated all of our achievements.

We have also been lucky enough to have the support of all of our friends within the Croydon Business Community, without whom, StartUp Croydon wouldn’t be what it is today – thank you to all of you.

And, many thanks to Wayne Trice, Magician, who made our  Xmas Party extra special!