The national reach of the Business Boffins programme is set to develop with regional delivery. The programme is being licensed to one university in each of the Regional Development Agency (RDA) areas in order to create a truly national programme of business support and education but with the benefits of local knowledge in each region. Of the nine RDA regions, Warwick University has already licensed for the West Midlands region and the University of the West of England (UWE) has taken a licence for the South West. Discussions are underway with a number of other universities for the remaining regions of England.

Let's be honest: there's an astonishing amount of business information currently available. And so wouldn't it be really useful if someone could come up with a common sense approach that set out all of the essential stuff that you need to know, presented in a logical sequence? Perhaps by bringing together a team of experts? Maybe professional advisers (accountants and lawyers etc), bank managers and experienced business owners? And then, just to be extra safe, wouldn't it be great if all of that material was checked and accredited by a University Business School? Better still, how about testing that material with around 150 businesses over their first year of trading? We thought that would be a good idea. So we did it. And it worked: business sustainability was improved dramatically and the business owners gave the programme a 95% approval rating.

The BUSINESS BOFFINS programme combines easy-to-understand educational material, delivered on a weekly basis, with mentoring and feedback on important documents such as your business plan and cash flow forecast. And the programme can also lead to a university-accredited Certificate in Small Business Management.

Business Boffins Ltd Hillside, Chinnor Hill, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, OX39 4BA