City MP Stephen Morgan has joined several organisations at Portsmouth Guildhall to celebrate the success of the 2017 Naval Families Enterprise Project, and launch its second programme which is due to run in Plymouth.
The charity, which is part of X Forces Enterprise (XFE), is an organisation which supports military veterans and their families in business, and organises regular courses and initiatives to equip them with the skills, support and mentoring necessary for self-employment.
The event, which was held in the Portsmouth Room at the Guildhall, was a reunion and networking session for the sixteen organisations who contributed to the 2017 project in Portsmouth was also the launch-pad for the second programme which will start in September 2018.
The initial project, organised by XFE, covered enterprise learning, business planning, networking as well as on-going support for the naval families.
Stephen Morgan MP said:
“It is fantastic that through X – Forces Enterprise, veterans and their families in Portsmouth have access to first class advice and support on how to get their business ideas off the ground.
“Small businesses form the backbone of our city, the skills that ex-services personnel are able to gain through this initiative do not only benefit the individuals and their families, but also bring innovative new businesses to Portsmouth.”
Mr Morgan was joined by Steve Futter from Solent LEP, Gary Lydiate, Chief Executive of Kilfrost Ltd and Cllr Michael Cheshire, Leader of the Havant County Council. Joining them were both the XFE and Greenwich Hospital teams and representatives from the MoD, the Service Charities and Associations, Corporates including NatWest, Landmarc and Dell EMC, and beneficiaries.
Ren Kapur MBE, Founder and CEO of XFE added:
“I am delighted to welcome back our successful cohort from last year. This project is a remarkable achievement, both within XFE and the supporting naval communities. To be able to see the progress and success of the first cohort, and then launch a new cohort to start later this year humbles us and at the same time demonstrates the great support there is from the community. This is a great start and augurs well for a sustainable path for ex-service personnel and their families.”
