You can always find a reason not to follow your dreams and launch the business you fall asleep thinking about every night.
Lockdown has just fuelled the excuses…
For those determined to break the mould however, the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator provides an opportunity to turn a dream into reality.
Our story
For the last five years the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme, has supported 1000’s of businesses across the UK to start, scale and succeed through their physical hub spaces and thriving communities. With the pandemic pausing all physical support, the accelerator went digital in 2020 to keep supporting start-ups and scale-ups across the UK during lockdown. Sign-ups to the free accelerator have been as huge as ever, with today’s generation of innovators and pioneers taking that all-important step to find success with the support of NatWest.
One of the new ways in which the bank is helping entrepreneurs at all stages of their business is Business Builder – a free digital platform that has been designed to give you the right support, at the right time for you and your business.
Whether you are looking to validate an idea, find new customers, or explore the funding options available to you, there is support available online, 24/7, through the platform, including:
- Digital modules taking you through the essential building blocks to help you and your business move forward.
- An online Facebook community of 100s of peers to collaborate with and support you through your entrepreneurial journey.
- And wrap around events to surround you with the right people and knowledge that could take your business from good to great.
Continuing its trend of innovation, in 2021 NatWest launched additional accelerators for High Growth, Climate, Fintech and Purpose Led businesses with additional support provided by NatWest’s national programme partners. These include but are not limited to:- Dell Technologies, Pinsent Masons, Equifax, FreeAgent and Hiscox.
Like all of NatWest’s entrepreneurial support, Business Builder and High Growth, Climate, Fintech and Purpose Led Accelerator are fully funded by the bank with no requirements to give-up equity in your business. The only aim is to ensure entrepreneurs have the best chance to succeed.
“This is what drives us as an entrepreneurial team,” says Olly Reid, Scale Acceleration Manager at NatWest.
We want to encourage entrepreneurs to succeed, whether that’s someone with an idea they want to launch or a CEO of a well-established company that wants to grow further.
We have the expertise, hunger and opportunities here to help entrepreneurs achieve both local and global success, and them achieving their ambition is what fills us with pride.
So now really is the time to start, scale and succeed with NatWest. Maybe 2021 will be the year your dream becomes a reality.
Collecteco partners with businesses across the UK to donate furniture, equipment and materials to charities, schools, NHS Trusts and other not for profit organisations.
“Being part of the community has bolstered both my confidence and focus. Increased focus has made me realise that in the past I have been guilty of being a busy fool. Improved confidence has made me aim higher and believe in the future of Collecteco, developing a clear vision to help guide the team and focus our sales activity. I joined the programme as a reluctant leader, but I am now enjoying the challenge/prospect as we grow.” —Steve Sliney – MD – Collecteco
Zero Green
“Zero Green was born from our shared desire to reform the shopping experience from plastic-dependence to plastic-free”
“The community has allowed both of us to act on our passions and scale with strategy. We now don’t fear spontaneity, as planning allows us to know how we can pivot if it doesn’t work. We both agree that its crucial to listen to other people, especially when you get stuck in your own thoughts. We have now become much better at Outsourcing talent. On balance, our top tip would be to be open to change, different can be good”. — Stacey Fordham and Lidia Losada – Zero Green
