SEE celebrates first year success of the E-Business programme in Bexley

South East Enterprise opened their office at the Engine House in Erith, Bexley in early 2022 having started delivering the Local London E-Business programme in the borough in October 2021.

Tony Goldstein, Managing Director of South East Enterprise said ‘it’s important to put down roots in the borough we are working in and become a real part of the local business community. As such we employed our local team through the Bexley Business & Employment service with whom we have a close working relationship’.

To celebrate the success of the first year of the E-Business programme, an event was held at the Civic Centre in Bexley Heath on the evening of Thursday 20 April 2023. The event was well attended with around 90 guests drawn from the local business community, Bexley and Local London.

Local London Chairman and Leader of Bexley, Cllr Baroness Teresa O’Neill of Bexley OBE opened the event, welcoming local business owners “I am proud to say that partnership work between South East Enterprise and the Council’s BBE service is proving to be extremely successful in supporting our business community and ‘Making Bexley Even Better’.  The programme is also working with our town centres to develop further positive engagement and address the digital divide that many businesses are facing.”

Sarah Murray, Director of Local London, added “The South East Enterprise team are doing a fantastic job. SMEs play a significant role in the local economy in north east and south east London, to see that the E-business Programme is making such a positive difference to small business owners here is hugely important. This is another success story for devolved funding. The model works brilliantly!”

Tony Goldstein, Director of South East Enterprise, spoke warmly of the business owners he’s met through the programme which matches you with an advisor who will help you develop a plan bespoke to your needs; from developing your website to TikTok marketing and everything in between.

Tony was joined by Jennie Blake owner of Serenity Sessions, a Bexley-based business that provides wellbeing training to help organisations build resilient teams.

Jennie Blake addressed the room of SME owners: “I want to express my gratitude to the programme and especially my advisor. I can’t even tell you the value Rebecca added, she became my mentor, cheerleader, proof-reader, and marketing guru. With her I was never alone. She helped me keep on track and grow my business. In fact, between year one and year two I doubled my turnover. She gave me the push I needed to get Serenity Sessions on LinkedIn and I got one of my biggest contracts from there. Working a lot with charities who work with vulnerable people I am now able to reach more of them and help them to build their teams’ resilience so they in turn can help more people. Huge, huge thank you. And yes, it is free. There is no catch. You should get on the programme if you are an SME owner.”

Local businesses were entertained during the evening by students from Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, The Barley Ducks duo who played three acoustic duets.

The Local London E-business programme provides free face-to-face support and advice for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who want to know how to make the most of digital software and marketing tools to help their businesses succeed. Across our boroughs the programme has supported over 800 SME businesses.