Mobilising Others in 2020

“The greatest leaders mobilise others by coalescing people around a shared vision.” Ken Blanchard, Best-selling author, speaker, leadership expert, thought leader

FIRST thoughts...

Bringing people together has always been a focus here at FIRST and we are proud to work within the North East Region, from the Scottish border to the foot of the Tees Valley, working with people who have the passion to meet their potential. We could not do what we do without the support from everyone involved, from young people, early-stage founders, business leaders, universities, the public sector and everyone in-between. So as 2020 draws to an end we want to say a HUGE thank you to you all. 2020 has been a funny old year to say the least. Mobilising others by sharing experiences, pooling resources, and supporting each other is more important than ever. As a lot of us our working remotely we face new challenges to encourage others to keep strong communication and support and inspire our friends and colleagues.

We are excited for the year ahead and have taken inspiration from people within our region who are facing challenges. We’ve worked in partnership to develop programmes that will offer support in education, training, networking, events, and our community. Whether you are looking to skill up, startup or scale-up we want to hear your story.

FIRST some news...

Driven by our ambitions we are growing our team and have mobilised some new FIRST recruits. We welcome Louise Debnam FIRST Marketing and Impact Manager who will be strengthening our communications with you all across our marketing channels and working closely with our partners for Startup Awards North East Bringing a great mix of creativity and logic to ensure that the FIRST events are innovative, and provide impact for stakeholders. Although with hobbies such as shark cage diving, we hope there are no plans for an event with a shark cage dive in the River Tyne whilst completing a spreadsheet!

We are very excited to welcome to the team the very inspiring Sharon MacArthur who is a leading female entrepreneur in the region. She is passionate about unlocking the potential in people and will be delivering the next cohort of Level 1 in Understanding Enterprise

Alex Thompson has completed this course and explains how it has inspired her to follow her passion and supported her with her mental wellbeing. She is an inspiration to us all, and after completing this course she has also signed up for her next challenge with FIRST Sage Qualification in Computerised Accounting
If you would like to mobilise others by learning new skills to support your team, or to develop your career with our fully funded courses, please contact zoe@youarefirst.co.uk for more information.

Events, news, and opportunities from the North East ecosystem:

Having the ability to inspire people helps to motivate each other to achieve collective goals. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy CIPFA is hosting a series of special events this December, aimed to inspire and uplift during these difficult times. Our Charlotte Windebank, Managing Director at FIRST, will be sharing her experiences on building a network and contacts digitally. This takes place from 12:30pm Tuesday 8^th December.

In this digital age when we are working remotely and have been stuck in isolation expanding your business network means that you need not be alone. Teesside virtual networking event Gateway is a free online event that allows you to improve your job prospects through networking directly and learning more about your desired industry from experts in the field. Register for this amazing opportunity 10am- 2pm Wednesday 9^th December.

Mobilising others whilst working remotely adds a new challenge into the mix. Do you remember when Zoom was just a rocket ice lolly? Now using Zoom and other technology to streamline communication and processes has become second nature to us all. The ‘2020 Transformation with Tech ’ report published by Lloyds Bank and Be the Business shows that 55% of North East companies have credited the internet for helping to simplify their business.
This report also showed that 29% of microbusinesses created an online presence for the first time as they sought to keep trading through lockdown restrictions.

The team at Thriving North are mobilising retailers in the region and launching on 1^st December with their multi-vendor online store bringing together local businesses affected by the current lockdown restrictions, in a bid to “play Amazon at its own game”
In another bid to drive the local economy the North East LEP is preparing a collaborative Free Trade Zone mobilising a range or partners to ‘prepare the ground for a collaborative bid that underlines the ambition of the ambition and determination of the region to succeed.’ North of Tyne Combined Authorities are one of the partners with this project. They have also helped us to mobilise our cohort for the Level 1 Understanding Enterprise course with our learners in North Tyneside.

Whether you will be spending Christmas with friends and family in person or virtually this year, we would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. #TogetherweareFIRST