PRIME provides free information, events and training to help you start your own business or become self-employed.
PRIME (the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise) is a charity founded by Prince Charles. “The experience and skills which people build up over a lifetime are an invaluable resource”, he says. “It is madness for society not to make use of this.”
You can sign up for a free start-up pack and newsletters by clicking on the flower symbol to your right. And you can find PRIME support partners in your area at the “Find local help” box, also to your right.
Enterprise isn’t just about youth. People of any age can set up in business, but it’s particularly useful for the over 50s as there are not a lot of other options. Despite legislation supposedly outlawing age discrimination, older people still face difficulty finding an employer willing to give them a job.
A selection from the content to be found on this site is shown below. To find a specific item use the search box at top right, or to see the most recent items go to News.
PRIME’s service promise can be found here. There’s more about the charity itself at About PRIME, and at our other web site www.primeinitiative.org.uk.
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If you’re over 50 and thinking about starting a business in the Bristol area, then contact PRIME about getting a mentor. PRIME has recently completed training mentors in the area, who are now ready to talk to you. This is a completely free programme.
Here’s what Harri Harrison, who is running the scheme, has to say [...]
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The government is backing a scheme by Google, Enterprise UK and a number of other partners including PRIME to get more British businesses online. The campaign will kick of later this month with the launch of a set of free tools to simplify the building of a straightforward business web site, hosted by Google.
The [...]
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If you’ve started your own business or have become self-employed after the age of 50, here’s a chance to get some free publicity. We’d like to hear from you. We’re looking for stories to put up on the case-studies section of this web site.
There are two ways of entering. If you use Microsoft Word just [...]
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Influential voices are calling for the current “default retirement age” of 65 to be scrapped. The latest call comes from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which has said that workers should be able to stay in their jobs beyond the age of 65. The EHRC polled 1,500 workers, and found that a relaxation [...]
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Just before the Christmas break the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) launched its latest White Paper Building Britain’s Recovery - Achieving Full Employment. Straight after the break we have The Prince’s Trust YouGov Youth Index 2010 survey. This includes the claim, which is already well-established in the popular mind, that young people are hit [...]
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When PA, Sharon Lawrence, was made redundant at 50, she decided to go it alone and set up her own business as a virtual personal assistant (VPA). Flying Changes PA offers independent secretarial support for £19 - £23 an hour. Sharon says, ‘The more you stick at it, the better it gets. I would never [...]
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To make its material more accessible, PRIME is having its most popular booklets and guides redone as downloadable PDFs that can be printed out on ordinary A4 ink-jet and laser printers.
We are taking the opportunity of also having large-print versions made, with a minimum text size of 16 point (the industry norm is 10 and [...]
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After 30 years in finance and leasing, 58-year-old Robert White has started a new trade as a domestic energy assessor.
West Bromwich man Bob spent 30 years in finance and leasing, as sales manager, business development manager, and managing director. With the recession the market declined, and Bob found himself made redundant three times in three [...]
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Cousins Jackie Hatton, 52 and Denise Lever, 50 have set up a gift shop in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. The shop offers affordable country lifestyle gifts, which can be anything from handmade soap to second hand furniture. Taking it in turns to man the counter, Denise and Jackie each enjoy a three-four day week, and split [...]
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Olderpreneur Lyn Siddle, 52 is expanding her award-winning spa, and is looking to set up further centres in York, Harrogate, Chester and Bath. The first centre, Portland Hall Spa in Southport, Merseyside opened in November 2005, and now employs 15 staff. Lyn became self-employed for the flexibility, enabling her to look after her four children [...]
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PRIME has teamed up with UK web site specialist Mr Site to offer a discount of up to 40 per cent on the company’s simple all-in-one web site creation packages.
With the discount a year’s use of the Beginner package will cost you £15 rather than £19.99, a year of the Standard package £22.74 rather than [...]
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HMRC’s online calculator for working tax credit and child tax credit is back online, after a gap of several years. It allows you to enter your details to see if it’s worth claiming - you’re not asked for a name. The over 50s are one of the groups most likely to NOT claim tax credits [...]
