UK Steel Enterprise helps launch Kickstart Fund

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Cut through the Twitter white noise and communicate

Has the marketing world been turned on its head or are businesses so desperate these days that they are chasing up and down every route to market in the hope of a sale?

Every marketing strategy put forward over the last 20 years has been based on market segmentation and the narrowing of marketing channels. The aim has been, and should be, to focus on a key target market, identify how to communicate with it and make the message so irresistible that customers cannot refuse the offer.

So why is it that marketing teams from all sectors are using Twitter to promote their goods and services? Twitter is so broad and so full of white noise from competitors and others that there is little chance of anyone maximising the marketing message by hitting the target market . Don't get me wrong, business can be won that way but the wastage involved is immense. And then there is the use of auto posts. What is the point of pretending to want to communicate with people if you are not willing to or capable of responding to someone that reads your tweet and wants more information? It is tantamount to propaganda, Public Relations of the worst sort and can do more damage than good. Essentially you are warming up a lead and then throwing cold water all over it.

There are numerous ways of setting up a notification service to alert you when someone replies to your tweets and in doing so you will publicly show that you actually want to engage with people – customers, suppliers or anyone that is interested in what you have to say.

So if you are going to use Twitter to fly in the face of marketing theory, please at least have the common sense to reply when someone responds to your tweets – who knows, it could actually lead to new business!

Parker PR is an award winning PR Agency based in North Nottinghamshire, serving clients all over the UK. Contact us on 01623 638023

UK Steel Enterprise helps launch Kickstart Fund

Tuesday, 20 December 2011 10:49

UK Steel Enterprise Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, has joined forces with North Lincolnshire Developments Ltd (NLD) and its Bees Knees Fund to help it deliver the Kickstart Fund for businesses which aims to create 100 new businesses in Scunthorpe over the next 2-3 years.

The Kickstart Fund is aimed at creating new businesses in North Lincolnshire, which in turn will create much needed jobs and additional employment. It provides grants of up to £1,000 for start-ups alongside unsecured loans of up to £5,000. Finance from the fund is not restricted to new businesses, as existing ones can apply for unsecured loans of up to £5,000 to help them grow, expand and take on new employees.

UK Steel Enterprise already provides loans and equity investments in amounts from £25,000 up to £750,000 for more established businesses, including low interest loans locally in North Lincolnshire.

Allan Wood, UK Steel Enterprise Ltd Regional Executive says the company is looking forward to working with the Bees Knees team as it has successful track record of delivering results with start-up businesses in the area. "UK Steel Enterprise has been very successful at supporting established businesses across the region but we wanted to work with local partners so we can be even more effective and NLD will give us that edge. NLD's own support packages will complement what we are doing to provide an even better offer to local businesses," said Allan Wood. In addition to making finance available the two new partners are also jointly financing the provision of free business advice for small or start-up businesses that cannot afford professional advice.

NLD's own Bees Knees Fund already provides loans of £5,000-£25,000 to businesses in the Scunthorpe area. Clive Pawson of NLD says that aligning the two Funds makes sense and should provide a comprehensive package for local businesses. "The Kickstart Fund and UK Steel's other loans dovetail perfectly with our Bees Knees Fund by providing finance either side of the packages we have on offer. It means that we can now support businesses from green shoots right through to second stage of growth, which has to be great news for them and the economy of the region," said Clive Pawson.

UK Steel Enterprise and NLD spent time talking to current employees of Tata Steel at a special event held at the Scunthorpe steel works aimed at giving them advice and support if they were considering self-employment.

Malcolm Spray from Scotter, a Quality Technician at Tata Steel met Allan Wood and Clive Pawson and said he found the information on funding very useful as he was considering self-employment as an option.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About UK Steel Enterprise

UK Steel Enterprise was established in 1975 by the then British Steel Corporation and today is a subsidiary of Tata Steel. The aim of the company is to help the economic development of those areas of the UK most affected by changes in the steel industry. UK Steel Enterprise provides loan and equity finance of up to £750,000 to growing companies based in such areas as well as business premises at its Business & Innovation Centres. The company also provides support to local communities in times of change in the industry by helping to fund local projects and initiatives which contribute towards job creation and regeneration.

Since it was established the company has supported 2,812 companies and with £78,410,000 which has in turn created over 60,000 jobs. In addition a further 11,500 jobs have been created thanks to the provision of work space in the company's Business Centres.

About Tata Steel in Europe

The European operations of Tata Steel (formerly known as Corus) comprise Europe's second largest steel producer. With main steelmaking operations in the UK and the Netherlands, they supply steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, material handling and other demanding markets worldwide.
Tata Steel is one of the world's top ten steel producers. The combined group has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately