The first winner of The Apprentice is bringing his business to Hackney to help aspiring young entrepreneurs.
Tim Campbell, who won the job in Sir Alan Sugar’s company Amstrad in 2005, set up the Bright Ideas Trust last year and is now searching for young people with business ideas that need investment.
“A lot of people who had seen me on TV were asking me how to set up a business and I thought ‘how can we harness this energy and focus it into creating a business,'” Mr Campbell said.
“Many people think Hackney is full of knife wielding youngsters. But we were pleasantly surprised by the entrepreneurial energy in the borough.”
Mr Campbell was born in Plaistow in east London but he says that has always spent a lot of time in Hackney.
His company, The Bright Ideas Trust works in partnership with businesses in the borough and provides mentors and funding for 16-30 year olds who want to set up a business.
Fabien Souzandry, 21, was the first young business owner the trust helped. He launched his film making business V.OGRAPHICS in November last year.
He said: “I had the chance to pitch my idea to Tim last year, I was only supposed to have a 15 minute meeting but it lasted for an hour and 45 minutes.
“Before this I had never had a business plan, but Tim has helped me to find contacts and clients. Since then, I have done various jobs for big clients, including the BBC, MTV and the Teenage Cancer Trust.
“I didn’t want to be branded as someone who got free money so what drew me to this trust was that they invest in the business,” he said.
The trust has also invested in a local children’s bookshop and hair dressing salon.
The Marketing Manager of Bright Ideas, Justen Schafer said: “We don’t invest in social enterprises or charities. We just want commercially and financially viable ideas.
“People can get up to £25,000 loan or equity share. Because we are investing in the business we want it to be successful.”
Mr Campbell will be visiting Hackney in April to run a workshop at Hothouse arts centre in London Fields for people who have an idea they want to discuss.
Despite the gloomy economic outlook Mr Campbell said: “Now is a good time to start a business if you have a good idea. If you can survive through this, it is a lot easier when the economy picks up. There are definitely opportunities at the moment.”
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: “I fully support this new approach to business support with a model that moves away from handouts and grants and provides valuable bespoke support and mentoring.”
Mr Campbell said he hopes to take the scheme nationwide. “We need more entrepreneurs to get us out of the downturn,” he said. “Small businesses are at the heart of the economy.”
Photo: Fabien with Paul Humphries (left) and Tim Campbell (right)
