Inspiral - What's new

Inspiral clients win eco-Awards

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:27:03 +0000

Two Inspiral clients were honoured at the inaugural Sheffield Telegraph Environment Awards in October.

Sustainable Building Solutions; part of the High Growth Start-Up programme, won the Innovation award for their energy-saving builders’ products.

Another high growth client, Bag It Don’t Bin It, was a runner-up in the same category. The eco-business produces cotton and jute branded shopping bags with the aim of getting people to stop using harmful plastic bags.

“We’re really proud of the achievements of Sustainable Building Solutions and Bag It Don’t Bin It,” says Inspiral’s enterprise advisor Chris Baker. “Hopefully they will inspire more of our high growth clients to enter awards, to achieve the wider recognition they deserve.”

Warp Films win Two BAFTA's

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:16:38 +0000

This is England and Dog Altogether both win an award at the ceremony

Inspiral client Warp Films had an amazing night at the BAFTAs this week, picking up two awards:Best British Film and Best Short Film.

This is England beat a host of other great films (including Atonement, Control and Eastern Promises) to be crowned best of British. Director Shane Meadows, together with producer Mark Herbert, collected their statue from Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone. It was Shane's third BAFTA nomination and so he was thrilled to have won.

Next up, Paddy Considine and Diarmid Scrimshaw mounted the stage, when Paddy's directorial debut Dog Altogether scooped up Best Short.

Mark told us: "The best was getting it from Stallone. I now have his number in my mobile - stored under "Rocky""

Check out http://www.warpfilms.com/#page=NewsPage.25

and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7191143.stm

to see more!

Results from Inspiral’s online market research

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:35:32 +0100

At Inspiral we have just finished rustling through our findings from an original online surveymonkey piece of market research we have done with our lovely clients.

It has been a great way to establish the key business support issues, preferred services, and preferences for Inspiral's new online business support service that will be coming soon.

We have learnt that you want:

Valuable advice
Valuable business tools
Valuable contacts

So make sure you watch this space because our online world will be the essential virtual place for you to access:

High quality general business advice
Exclusive networks of likeminded professionals
Your needs matched to specialist consultants/providers
Discounted online packages
Market research on future trends in the industry

Keep your eyes peeled for the next update on Inspiral's online venture and thank you to everyone who took the time to fill in the survey.

Raise your champagne flutes and celebrate business success with Entrepreneur Exchange

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:25:38 +0000

If you're a local entrepreneur you should get yourself along to the Entrepreneur Exchange November Meeting. The inspirational event is taking place at The Walnut Club, Ecclesall Road on 17th November at 6.30pm and costs £35.

Entrepreneur Exchange is a new concept in South Yorkshire - it is a forum exclusively for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs with an overall aim of celebrating, encouraging and stimulating entrepreneurship.

It promises to be an evening of stimulating discussion and value added networking with like minded people. You will also get to munch innovative food and enjoy a glass of champagne. Yum!

For further information and to book a place e-mail lucy@competeorgetbeat.com or call on 0114 243 4666. Check out the event venue at http://thewalnutclub.com

‘Arctic Monkeys At The Apollo’ DVD on sale now!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:13:28 +0000

Inspiral have co-financed the recently released ‘Arctic Monkeys At The Apollo‘ film and DVD - with a novel distribution and promotion strategy. Working in partnership with the band's management company, Warp Films and Creative Sheffield the team sought to emulate the Arctic Monkey's initial success of turning a business model on its head and creating a new route to market, this time on the big screen.

Phil Shankland said: "The meteoric rise of the Arctic Monkeys through the internet effectively called time on the music industry's stranglehold over the release of new music. We worked together to devise a way of turning the world of cinema on its head and open the door to new generation of film producers who would be traditionally locked out of the mainstream by the multi-million pound distribution industry."

The initiative saw the film distributed to 40 cinemas nationwide and 25 others in cities across Europe for a one night only screening followed by a worldwide DVD launch.

Check out http://www.arcticmonkeysattheapollo.com to buy your DVD now!

INSPIRAL LAUNCHES BUSINESS SUPPORT PORTAL

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:29:17 +0100

"HELP KICK-START YOUR STARTUP BUSINESS"

In a challenging economic climate every new business needs all the help it can get to succeed. Their chances of success will be greatly enhanced in October with the launch of the new Inspiral business support portal.

Sheffield based Inspiral is the UK's leading provider of specialist support to startup businesses having assisted over 500 businesses to start to trade in the past three years.

Inspiral is launching a ‘one-stop-shop' business support portal for aspirational entrepreneurs. Enter a virtual world of practical advice from leading experts and valuable tools to help kick-start your startup business and share your experiences and tips with other successful entrepreneurs. Submit your ‘Elevator Pitch' and get it rated by the Queen of Pitches.

The NEW Inspiral business support portal features:
• Access to business advice from experts in their field
• Exclusive network of likeminded entrepreneurs
• Specially commissioned startup guides
• Exclusive video interviews with experts and entrepreneurs
• The ultimate online tool kit:
o Web builder
o E-commerce
o Virtual office
o Email marketing

All for a very affordable monthly subscription.

Inspiral Managing Director, Phil Shankland, says "The new Inspiral portal is a response to what all our startup clients said they wanted - access to expert advice, helpful tools to grow their business and a vibrant community of likeminded entrepreneurs."

Pre register your interest here

Discuss technology at BarCamp Sheffield

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:27:28 +0000

Inspiral are sponsoring BarCamp Sheffield. The event will play host to a gathering of grass-roots geeks, creative visionaries, innovative entrepreneurs and a host of talented technologists.

Anything goes. You set the agenda. You are a participant and your opinion and thoughts are given a platform. You set the standard and have the opportunity to share your own passions and ideas.

The themes for the first BarCamp Sheffield will be Communities and Conversations, exploring how technology is shaping how we interact with each other both online and offline.

The event runs from 28th-30th November at The Showroom, Sheffield.

Click here for further details and how to sign up.