In this podcast, our CEO Karen West-Whylie is joined by her son Luke West-Whylie, Co-owner of Peckham Cellars to talk about the retail/ hospitality / leisure sectors.

We are conscious that these sectors have been, and will continue to be, three of the sectors hardest hit by COVID-19.

We have a number of different potential routes to provide support to retail sector businesses. 

Our current building blocks are Grant funding and Business Support capacity.

Whilst recognising that it may not be possible for all businesses and all jobs to survive this period intact, the programme’s aims will be to support businesses in receipt of the Additional Restricted Grant (ARG) grant to minimise the negative impact on employment and on business survival, and smoothen the effect of the potential cliff-edge of the end of the furlough scheme.

8th to 14th Feb is National Apprenticeship Week! As we celebrate this special week, we put the spotlight on one of our apprentices who started in 2017 and has remained with us ever since. Meet Ameena Sharif, who is turning 22 years old this year.

In this podcast, Ameena talks about her experience as an apprentice and being offered a permanent job with the BEC after 2 years. She also opens up about her dreams, the skills and learning she has gotten, and how she grew as an individual from this experience.

National Apprenticeship Week is indeed a great opportunity to highlight this initiative and encourage young people now more than ever.

As we celebrate our 5 years in business, our CEO Karen West-Whylie talks about what we do here at the Barking Enterprises Centre (BEC) in this special episode.

We pride ourselves on being more than just a workspace provider by holding complimentary warp-around business support through the BEC Mentoring Programme.

To know more about us and how you can avail of our complimentary mentoring programme, tune in to this podcast and visit us at www.beccic.co.uk.

In this new episode, our CEO Karen West-Whylie was joined in conversation by three female founders who all run fabulous creative businesses.

Joelle Mae David

Bluebird  Pictures was started with the sole aim of creating honest, unapologetic content through film, documentary, and commercial, while supporting and nurturing creatives on and off-screen.

Founded by Joelle Mae David, with nothing but a few quid and a camera, the company has grown from a very small one-woman band to a roster of incredible freelancers, filmmakers, and talent.

We now operate from an incredible studio in Barking, East London (a hidden gem), and have begun to push forward more passion projects.

Majida ‘Maj’ Burke one half of Brennan & Burch

You are interested in art and want your home to reflect this; you love vintage or retro style; you are inspired by fashion and music subcultures; you like to express your individuality and you find it difficult to discover items you identify with strongly.

In a crowded market, you can rely on Brennan & Burch to design bold interiors with a quirky edge that are sometimes odd but never dull.   Each design will be a talking point. Brennan & Burch create pieces that you can collect and treasure to add a unique quirkiness and pattern to your home.

Kemi Oloyede

Kemi Oloyede is the Creative Director of the Sew London Project.

She has 20 years of experience working in secondary and further education –  art and textile technology. A fashion designer of many years she took the bold plunge to set up The Sew London Project which runs sewing classes, workshops, and a sewing club as well as providing a bespoke fashion design service. She is passionate about ethical fashion and her label Recyclothes.com and offers a course all about recycling items into gifts and objects of use.

In the fourth episode of #MentoringRocks, we got to chat with Vicktesha Cunning, one of the BEC’s Mentoring Programme mentees.

Vicktesha is the owner of Vtessia Cosmetics, a haircare brand that she handmade herself started last year as a result of her personal struggle with postpartum hair loss.

She advises that when you are starting out, you have all your great ideas. A mentor will help you be guided for you to avoid wasting your time, prevent overspending, and have clarity with your goals and strategies.

Listen to this podcast to know why Vicktesha recommends having a mentor, and the importance of being guided by one long term.

If you are ready to get professional advice on how you can start or scale your business and want to avail of this complimentary mentoring program, contact us through www.beccic.co.uk.

In this third episode of #MentoringRocks, we got the chance to interview one of our BEC Mentoring Programme Mentees, Rachelle Mouai, the founder of Heal Studio.

For 8 years, Rachelle was running a spa that had to shut down months ago due to the economic downturn brought by the pandemic.

Rachelle had a “lockdown reflection” which helped her start Heal Studio in September 2020, a business offering massage treatment and beauty services.

As a mentee of the BEC’s Mentoring Programme, Rachelle has gained more clarity on her business goals. She talks about the importance of having a mentor in order to receive guidance and support in your business journey.

If you are ready to get professional advice on how you can start or scale your business and want to avail of this complimentary mentoring program, contact us through www.beccic.co.uk.

This second episode of #MentoringRocks series features Barking Enterprise Centre's mentor and Business Development Associate, Andre Arundell, where he talks about his reflections as a mentor and what made him become a one within the BEC team.

He also talks about some highlights of some rewarding results of his role in BEC’s Mentoring Programme.

The ethos of the BEC which strives to help local people within the local community to start their own businesses and give them advice on how they can start their own business ventures. 

If you want to access our complimentary mentoring programme, please contact us through www.beccic.co.uk.

Today, 27th October, is National Mentoring Day, which was launched to celebrate mentoring with a key focus on recognising excellence and raising awareness on the significant benefits of mentoring to encourage more people to get involved in mentoring.

To honor this day, we at the Barking Enterprises Centres (BEC) officially launch our first podcast episode TODAY, which will kick off with the "Mentoring in 2020—The year that rocked!" season. #MentoringRocks

For the first episode of #MentoringRocks, our CEO Karen West-Whylie talks about the BEC and how it started, along with how the mentoring programme came about as well as its achievements.

As a qualified mentor, it is Karen’s absolute honor and a privilege to be allowed into people's lives to help them be able to grow and make their own informed decisions, and supporting them on their business journey.

If you want to know more about how you can avail of our complimentary mentoring program, please contact us through www.beccic.co.uk.