FIRST launches flexible Business Taster Course

FIRST launches flexible Business Taster Course in response to persistent joblessness in the North East

With the North East’s economic inactivity rate at 28.2%, the highest in the UK, and an unemployment rate of 4.8% among adults as of April - June 2025, the region continues to face a stubborn employment challenge. (SOURCE)

The team at FIRST, a learning and development agency dedicated to empowering enterprise skills, believes that self-employment should be a viable, and accessible route into work, and that business education must be available to everyone.

For over 11 years, FIRST has delivered its government funded, accredited Level One and Level Two Business Courses, online and in person, equipping under-resourced communities (especially underrepresented groups) with enterprise skills, courage and pathways into meaningful work. Yet time pressures, travel barriers, and caregiving responsibilities means not everyone can take part.

In response, FIRST has introduced the Business Taster Course, a free and flexible programme, funded through the North East Combined Authority, that offers a gentle, accessible introduction to enterprise skills.

The course, hosted by FIRST founder Charlotte Windebank, features workshops that participants can watch in their own time. The sessions explore how to test business ideas through market research, present a story with courage, and begin building a motivating network of professional contacts. Each participant also receives one-to-one personalised support and guidance from a member of the FIRST team.

Charlotte Windebank, Managing Director of FIRST, commented:

“Everyone should have the opportunity to consider self-employment. By offering this new flexible route, we’re giving people the courage to start, and providing them with access to support tailored to their needs. The Taster Course opens the door - and connects them to support and opportunity across the North East.”

For those ready to build on their learning, FIRST has also launched an Advanced Business Course. This next‑step programme is geared towards individuals who have completed the Level Two Business Course, or who are already beyond that level, and dives deeper into specialist topics such as AI, finance, legal frameworks and investment. Works with guest experts, as well as personalised support and referrals through FIRST’s local partners, empower learners to take their ventures further.

Both courses reinforce FIRST’s commitment to making business education inclusive, flexible, and rooted in the needs of North East communities.

Find out more about the new, flexible taster course by clicking the "info" button...

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