About us

We’ve been helping people start and stay in business throughout the South West for over 20 years. Since setting up as an enterprise agency in 1993, we have worked tirelessly to support self-employed individuals and small businesses with our blend of practical, down-to-earth advice and interactive workshops.

We’re a friendly bunch, and between us we have more years of business experience than we care to admit. Being able to advise, support and inspire people to develop and grow sustainable and profitable businesses is what gets us up in the morning (and not the strong coffee, honest).

In the last three years alone we’ve helped over 1,300 people realise their dream of becoming self-employed. More importantly though, we’re proud to say that over 90% of those that start trading are still doing so after six months. Many of these continue to grow and provide employment opportunities for the local communities. That’s a fantastic result, if we do say so ourselves.

Our mission for the future is to continue to passionately deliver the most accessible business support services in the south west, empowering people to start and grow financially sustainable businesses. Basically, we’re here to help.

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Supporting you

Meet the team

Stewart Horne | Managing Director

Responsible for the day-to-day running of the company, including the identification of new sales opportunities for the company.

Stewart brings a wealth of practical and business skills to the company. A farmer for over 30 years, Stewart has a deep understanding of the issues small business and farmers face. A well respected professional he holds several high profile roles connected with rural organisations including the Rural Services Network, CQLP and is a member of a number of initiatives.

Cathy Wright | Contracts Director

Responsible for contractual and administrative aspects of all contracts and company procedures, including all financial matters relating to the company.

Cathy has over 15 years management experience, with extensive knowledge of European and other funding streams together with successfully developing multi – partner projects. Cathy is responsible for the achievement and continued commitment to ISO 9001 standards.

David Hinshelwood | Contracts Delivery Director

Responsible for the day-to-day activity of the business advisors and trainers in their work with local businesses.

David is a qualified business manager with extensive experience which encompasses business management, consultancy, advisory and training roles. He is a Professional Member of the Institute of Agricultural Management and with specialisms in business and financial planning together with project management.

Petra Davies | Contracts Manager

Works with the Directors to support the practical delivery of contracts. She is an experienced Business Advisor, having supported BIP clients under various business support schemes.

Petra studied Hotel Management at College and went on to manage Pubs and Restaurants for Chef and Brewer before joining Trust House Forte and moving into Hotel Management. Working in such a people intensive environment provides her with the skills and experience she needs to really work with teams within businesses to achieve goals through communication and motivation.

Dee Gill | Contracts Manager

Works with the Directors to manage the administrative requirements of our contracts, implementing and maintaining systems as required. Dee manages the day to day running of Okehampton Business Centre and is also our ISO 9001/2008 Coordinator.

Dee has many years of experience in administering and meeting audit requirements for projects from European and other funding streams.

James Werb | Marketing Manager

Responsible for all marketing activities, from developing the marketing strategy to managing the social media accounts.

He has over 9 years of experience working with a number of companies, large and small in both the B2B and B2C sectors.

Chris Langan | Business Advisor

Chris has over 30 years’ experience of running his own businesses – retail, wholesale and a chain of shops. He has a wide range of expertise around retail, wholesale, family businesses, start-ups, engineering and B2B.

Chris is a good listener and quickly understands what his clients are trying to achieve, helping them to identify a practical plan on how to get to their goal.

Jane Tope | Business Advisor

Jane is a qualified business advisor and trainer. She has worked on a variety of business programmes including New Entrepreneur Scholarship, New Deal for Communities, New Enterprise Allowance, Regional Growth Network and the Superfast Business programme.

She has the CIM Advanced Certificate in Marketing and Post 16 Cert Ed, qualifying as an experienced marketing trainer. She has started business development groups and worked with community and corporate businesses. Working from pre-start to second generation businesses she is able to focus on people’s specific needs using an analytical and friendly approach.

Neil Jory | Business Advisor

Neil is a qualified banker and chartered secretary who is well versed in the technical skills of finance, planning, governance and decision making. He is also a former soldier and an experienced manager who has spent many years leading teams in the banking and education sectors.

As well as working for BIP, he is a Councillor on West Devon Borough Council. He has worked on NVQ and BTEC programmes from level 2 to level 7 for clients including the NHS, Sunseeker Yachts and Mole Valley Farmers.

Octavia Cartwright-Witts | Project Administrator

Carries out data processing for all areas of BIP’s work and produces management reports that enable the monitoring of BIP’s client activity. Octavia is also the First Aider for the Business Centre.

Tamsyn Diffey | Project Administrator

Carries out data processing for BIP’s work and produces management reports that enable the monitoring of BIP’s client activity. Tamsyn also assists in the daily running of Okehampton Business Centre.