Access to expertise proves a big draw

ACCESS to finance and expertise were the twin themes of an event for business leaders and wouldd-be entrepreneurs at Gallery Oldham.

The second year of the Meet the Expert event, jointly hosted by Oldham and Rochdale councils, heard keynote speeches from Graham Niven from Access to Finance at the Business Growth Hub, and Adrian Stores from the Goldman Sachs programme at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Mr Niven suggested several alternative funding sources for businesses: “The banks may be the best cheapest solution but often not the only solution,” he said.

Mr Stores outlined the free Goldman Sachs training programme available through the Centre of Excellence at MMU, and how business leaders benefit from six months of intensive training.

Competition for the free courses, worth £14,000, is intense: “There has been a healthy take up of places from all over Greater Manchester — except Oldham and Rochdale,” he said.

“These programmes are free and of great benefit to business leaders,” he said, encouraging applications.