After three successful events in 2024, Northumberland Small Business Services’ Enterprise Festival is BACK for 2025 and encouraging any budding entrepreneurs and startups to attend this unique and inspiring one day festival taking part at THREE locations across the County.
The Northumberland Small Business Service (NSBS) is excited to announce the return of the Northumberland Enterprise Festival. The event in 2024 saw nearly 100 startups and entrepreneurs through the doors of the event and subsequently starting their own business.
The Northumberland Small Business Service (NSBS) is delivered by Northumberland County Council. The project is part funded by the North East Combined Authority and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund, with the North East Combined Authority as the lead authority.
Taking place across the county from Tuesday 7 to Thursday 9 October 2025 at venues Market Place Blyth, Brocksbushes and Alnwick Garden the event is aimed at individuals thinking about starting a business, as well as those in their first year of trading.
The Enterprise Festival is designed and aimed towards the needs of new businesses, combatting topics such as common mistakes in the first year of business and how to overcome/avoid them, pricing your business, growth planning, getting customers and retaining them.
This year will also see businesses who have been on the Northumberland Small Business Service and attended last years event to talk to attendees about their business journey and inspire and give their advice first hand.
Each event will run from 9:00am to 3:30pm, starting with a welcome breakfast and registration, followed by a packed programme of workshops, talks, and networking opportunities.
Katie Davis-Milnes owner of Skylark Asset and Business Finance who attended last year said “We can’t recommend the NSBS Enterprise festival enough. We attended last year before we began trading and it proved to be invaluable. It was brilliant to get support from professionals alongside other, inspiring, like-minded people setting up businesses, not to mention a lovely lunch”.
After the event, we received lots of support and advice and most significantly, two grants which allowed us to purchase vital equipment to launch our business, which is now thriving in our eighth month of trading.
The Enterprise Festival is part of NSBS’s wider commitment to fostering a strong entrepreneurial culture across Northumberland. With so many individuals considering self-employment as a viable and rewarding career path, the festival offers a timely and supportive environment for people to take their next step.
Programme Manager, Lucy Evermore said “The Northumberland Enterprise Festival is all about supporting local residents to explore their potential. Whether someone has a business idea they’ve been sitting on, or they’ve recently launched and feel overwhelmed, this event is designed to show them they’re not alone. We want people to leave with renewed confidence, clarity, and practical tools they can use straight away.”
The event is completely free to attend, but registration is essential as spaces are limited. Those interested in attending are encouraged to secure their place early via the event booking page, you can register here:
https://northumberlandsmallbusiness.co.uk/enterprise-festival
NSBS also offers assistance to micro-small sized businesses across Northumberland. The experienced team and its range of experts work directly with businesses and individuals to help them start, grow, diversify, and sustain their ventures through workshops, 1-2-1 support and networking events across the county.
This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
If you have any questions about the event or the Northumberland Small Business Service, please visit Northumberland Small Business Service or contact the team at [email protected].
