Mike swaps his apron for advertising with new business launch

A Preston man who worked in catering for most of his career has launched a new advertising business which he hopes to roll out across the county.

Mike Gregory, of Fulwood, Preston, set up Jigsaw Taxi Advertising in September after identifying through his work as a business consultant that small businesses needed better, low cost, high impact advertising options.

Following in-depth research into advertising on various channels, his new business was launched.

The concept is based on a business buying advertising space in the form of a jigsaw puzzle piece which is displayed on a black cab, with various package options covering number of vehicles and months covered.

Mike has been supported by Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub and eventually wants to operate across the whole of Lancashire and create a franchise model to roll the business out nationwide.

Through Boost’s Growth Support Programme, Mike has been supported in developing his business plan to help get his business off the ground and lead to growth.

The fully funded programme, delivered by Winning Pitch and Enterprise4all, provides help to develop a personal action plan, Lean Launchpad sessions outlining key principles for developing a new business and one-to-one coaching support for business owners.

Mike attended the Lean Launchpad session provided him with the growth tools needed to fully start his business and start trading with relevant businesses.

During the Lean Launchpad workshops, Michael developed a very comprehensive and specific personal action plan, which outlined what he needs to develop and how he will implement this in his own high growth business.

He said: “I found the workshops I attended really interesting and I took a lot away from it which was helpful as a new business and it opened my ideas to possibilities I hadn’t considered.

“So far, the response to Jigsaw Taxi Advertising has been very positive and eventually I want to cover not just Preston, but the rest of Lancashire too.”

Boost; Lancashire Business Growth Hub is led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Rona McFall, head of entrepreneurial solutions at Winning Pitch, said: “Working with Mike we were able to understand his business ambitions and identify which workshops and seminars he would benefit from. The support doesn’t stop here and we’ll be in contact with Mike as Jigsaw Taxi Advertising grows. Mike had done a lot of research into his business concept – he just needed some help in other areas to help get it off the ground.”

Boost has received £3.8m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.  For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.