Steve Abbott: Enterprising Ashfield
Steve has attended one of our courses on the Enterprising Ashfield project, delivered by NTU, and is working with the team to further support the growth of his business.
Enterprising Ashfield is being delivered by NTU in partnership with Ashfield District Council and is part funded by the Government's Town Fund. The project provides support to enhance business productivity and improve the skills of local residents and employees in the Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield areas.
Steve Abbott, Enterprising Ashfield skills course attendee
The course I did will benefit us massively long term, it will really save time not having to set equipment up and just being able to use our smartphones.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your business?
My name’s Steve and I own and run Nana Prints Personalised Gifts shop on Low Street in Sutton-in-Ashfield. We've been a limited company since August 2021, after we did some testing and learning to test whether it was going to be viable. We sell personalised gifts, anything from around £3 to £50 and we do various printing methods.
How did you find out about the Enterprising Ashfield project and what attracted you to take part?
We were aware of the project already, but we really found out more when Dan came in to see us one day. He was fantastic, he told us so much about the project from all the different courses we could do, through to getting graduates in to support our business.
What did you learn on the course that you find particularly useful?
I did the Video Production for Marketing using Smartphones course which was really good. We do a lot of product photography and was just using a normal DSLR camera. However, the capability of now using our smartphones is absolutely much better and has been a game changer.
How did the course benefit your business?
It will benefit us massively long term, it will really save time not having to set equipment up and just being able to use our smartphones.
Would you recommend this to other people?
Absolutely 100%, and we already have. We’ve been recommending and suggested the courses and project to a number of businesses in the area.
We're hoping to look into the graduate programme to get some support and we’re also working with Adrian from the growth programme who is mentoring us at the moment.
How to access the support available
If you are interested in the Enterprising Ashfield project contact the team at enterprisingashfield@ntu.ac.uk