Seventeen staff from one of Devon and Cornwall’s leading law firms will be volunteering as mentors to help young people starting out in business, through the New Enterprise Allowance scheme.
The mentors include lawyers from a variety of disciplines including property, dispute resolution, renewable energy and employment law, as well as specialists in marketing, finance and IT from Stephens Scown LLP. The mentors are drawn from the firm’s three offices in Exeter, St Austell and Truro.
The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme is available to people under the age of 30 who are out of work and have been receiving benefits.
If the young person meets the criteria and has a business idea that can be developed, they will be allocated a mentor to advise them on preparing a business plan and setting up their business.
Stephens Scown’s 17 new volunteer mentors have signed up with BIP, the organisation contracted by the Government to deliver NEA in Devon and Cornwall and will join its bank of 120 mentors.
Over 760 new businesses have been started in Devon and Cornwall thanks to New Enterprise Allowance and the advice and support from BIP and its partners.
Robert Camp, Stephens Scown’s managing partner and himself one of the new mentors, said: “We have such a wide range of specialisms and knowledge in the firm; I am delighted that we can share it with young people starting out in business.
“I’m sure that as mentors we will get a lot out of it too. In my own career I have always sought advice from others and it is a real privilege to be able to share some of what I’ve learned with young people at the start of their own journeys.”
BIP is currently looking for more local business people to become mentors, who volunteer around an hour a week at times to suit them. If you are interested, please call Freephone 0330 1000 338 or email team@bipwestdevon.biz.
