New business forum for Hendon and the East End

• 25/06/2009

A new business forum is set to be launched to help firms in the Hendon and East End areas of Sunderland prosper and grow.

The new forum will give a collective voice to businesses in the area and promote more inter-trading.
Members will also get help with accessing funding packages, receive free business advice and benefit from free networking events.

The launch of the forum follows the successful launch of the Sunniside Forum which has quickly established itself in the heart of the city centre business district.

Retired councillor and past City of Sunderland Mayor Leslie Scott already chairs the Sunniside Forum and will initially lead the new organisation in Hendon and the East End.

Mr Scott said: "This new forum will not be just a talking shop. From the outset it will have clear goals to boost business and employment in the area.

"Hendon and the East End has always been home to successful businesses. In many cases they achieve great things while not always getting the praise they deserve.

"There are some significant businesses in this part of the city and many more small enterprises doing their bit for local economic prosperity.

"The forum will give businesses here a serious voice to lobby on behalf of its members. There are also some superb business support packages available exclusively to businesses in Hendon and the East End which I urge people to take advantage of."

The Sunniside and the Hendon and East End Forums have been developed by SES (sustainable-enterprise-strategies) as part of a major campaign to boost enterprise in the city. The campaign is funded by Back on the Map, the New Deal for Communities regeneration programme for Hendon and the East End of Sunderland.

Under the campaign Business Link advisor Neil Sowerby was brought in to focus purely on the areas of Hendon, the East End and Sunniside. Neil has been working behind the scenes to drum up support for the new forums.

All businesses in the Hendon and East End area are invited to join and attend the first meeting of the forum which will take place in the training room at Thompson Building Centres head-office on Commercial Road, Hendon on Wednesday, July 1st at 4pm

For more information contact SES on 0191 565 0476 or email info@ses.coop