Press release

How exciting to have been included in the UK's first ever Home Enterprise Day! Below is the press release that was sent out about the event that myself and five other artisans held on Saturday

Come back soon to see the photos!

Celebrate UK’s first ever Home Enterprise Day

This year Global Entrepreneurship Week will spark activities in over 87 countries, involving millions of people. And it is the first year to see a day dedicated to people who are starting and growing a business from home in the UK.

Home Enterprise Day will take place on Friday 20th November and will be run by Enterprise Nation, the home business website. The aim of the day will be two-fold; to encourage more people to start a business from home and inspire existing businesses to grow. It will recognise all those who are turning ideas into action, hobbies into business, and the spare room into a fully functioning workspace.

Activities are being planned up and down the region including regional home business get-togethers, announcements from corporates on home business products and services, and online meet-ups.

Mrs Bev Madden, founder of Mrs Madden Makes, a Wakefield based business producing exclusive handbags and home wares, is opening her home to individuals looking for pre Christmas gifts and pampering as she brings together six entrepreneurs who have taken the plunge to work from home on their own crafts.

To celebrate Home Enterprise Day Bev will open the events doors on Saturday 21st from 11am to 4.30pm to showcase handbags, retro home wares and preserves, jewellery, cup cakes, Christmas cakes, unusual cards and hand-made gift wrap. Pamper experiences will also be available.

Bev from Mrs Madden Makes said: “In our experience home enterprise begins with a passion or talent. Our event simply brings together a group of local ladies who work from home and provides them with the opportunity to showcase their unique and beautiful talents – whether that’s creating one-off pieces of jewellery or baking tasty cup cakes for special occasions.

“We are all wonderful examples of successful businesses that function from the home. The cost benefits and flexibility of home working have allowed us to turn our passions into a business opportunity.”

Enterprise Nation founder, Emma Jones, said: “There is no better year in which to launch this national Home Enterprise Day. We have been providing information and inspiration to home businesses since 2006 but we’ve never seen conditions like it. More and more people are deciding to do something they love, make it pay, and have the freedom and flexibility that comes with self-employment. They are starting from home because it’s low risk, low cost and involves no commute!”

Jane Walton Head of Yorkshire and Humber for Enterprise UK said: “It’s brilliant that Enterprise Nation is involved with this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week by launching Home Enterprise Day. Home businesses are making a powerful contribution to the UK economy and we will see this brought to life on Friday 20th November through a whole range of events and activities that are taking place across the Yorkshire and Humber region.”

Updates of activities taking place on the Day will appear at www.enterprisenation.com and www.gew.org.uk

To find out more information about Mrs Madden Makes, please contact 0779 959 0371

Media notes:
For media enquiries about Home Enterprise Day or Enterprise Nation, please contact: Emma Jones, Founder, Enterprise Nation
07899 871 698

For media enquiries about Global Entrepreneurship Week please contact:
Emma Lupton or Lindsey Davies of Open Communications on 01924 950450 or email emma.lupton@opencomms.co.uk Lindsey.davies@opencomms.co.uk
A few facts & figures on home business

Over two million businesses already operate mainly from home. *1

61% of new businesses were launched from home in 2008 *2

Home based business is intrinsically low carbon. Operating from one property instead of a separate home and workspace cuts commuting. It also reduces the carbon emissions generated by constructing and fuelling separate premises. *3

Home based businesses face lower costs, spending significantly less on their workspace and travel than those using separate premises. Not commuting also saves time, increasing potential productivity. *4

Over 5 million people in the UK are holding down a day job and building a business at nights and weekends. We call this 5 to 9 working. The increase is being driven by a desire to earn extra income in troubling economic times and an ambition to turn a hobby/passion/skill in to a way of making a living. Of the businesses being run part-time, 50% are growing and 26% of the owners expect to be going full time within the next 3 months/38% in over a year. These part time ventures will soon become full time businesses - they represent an enterprise renaissance. *5

Home based businesses are re-defining growth. Many grow by outsourcing and sub-contracting, creating jobs in other businesses rather than taking on staff themselves. *6

Home business owners are optimistic about the future with 72% saying they plan to win new customers in the next 6 months and 58% working on developing new products and services. *7
Sources:
*1 ONS Labour Force Survey
*2 UK Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
*3 & 4 ‘Can Homeworking Save the Planet’, The Smith Institute
*5 ‘Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time’
*6 & 7 Enterprise Nation 2008 Home Business Report

Global Entrepreneurship Week

Global Entrepreneurship Week (16th-22nd November 2009) is a rallying point for a worldwide movement of entrepreneurial people, and this year will highlight the crucial role that entrepreneurs and their ideas will play in driving economic recovery in the UK and globally. More than 87 countries across the globe are signed up to take part, and millions of people will use the week to connect with their global counterparts, unleash their enterprising talents and turn their ideas into reality. The movement is co-founded by Enterprise UK, formally Make Your Mark, in the UK and the Kauffman Foundation in the US. It supported by the Department of Business Innovation & Skills. Last year, over three million people from 77 countries attended just over 25,000 events in countries as diverse as the BRICs, the USA, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Australia and France.
www.gew.org.uk