New ‘pop-up shop’ for business advice in Bradford

The Open Field information shop, on Broadway, provides advice and support to anyone needing entrepreneurial advice.

At the shop’s opening yesterday, the director of social landlord Incommunities-Open Field, Steve Short, said: “We’re really confident that while the shop is here it will be successful. We’re here to help anybody and everybody with a wide range of services, including finances and self-employment.”

And within hours of its opening, interest was high. The project’s leader, Chris Walls, said: “The footfall here is much more than we first thought and we’re well situated, being near two train stations and the job centre.

“We’re trying to let as many people know we’re here as possible. We’ve put lots of information on our website and our social media sites, and we really do want to help anybody at all.”

Incommunities sees the project as a chance to build on good work it has already done.

Incommunities assistant chief executive for neighbourhood services, Adrienne Reid, said: “We see the introduction of this shop as a chance to further what we’re already doing with our partners in the city and the region as a whole. It was a great opportunity for us to use this empty facility and it’s a very interesting location with it being in view of the new Westfield shopping centre development.

“A lot of people come to see us through landlords and our success has seen a lot of people going through our schemes and getting into business.”

One of the services on offer at the former Stead and Simpson shop is enterprise and business support, where the company helps people establish their own businesses.

An advisor for that service, Jeremy Tuck, said: “We’ll investigate what it is they want and then decide whether self employment is right for them.

“We’re here to put support mechanisms in place and educate people on the pros and cons of self employment.”

The shop will be open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, until March 7.