Hyndburn Borough Council announces new programme of free business workshops following recent success

Hyndburn Borough Council has announced an exciting new programme of free business workshops to support local entrepreneurs and business owners, building on the outstanding success of its popular sessions delivered in 2025 and so far in 2026.

Over the past seven months, the council has hosted 14 workshops covering a wide range of topics, from start-up essentials and branding to practical marketing tools such as Canva and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.

The programme has been designed to equip businesses at every stage with the skills, confidence and knowledge to thrive in a fast-changing commercial landscape.

The final workshop in the most recent series took place on Thursday at Accrington Stanley Community Trust and was led by Heath Groves, Managing Director of Defence at Telana. A Microsoft Certified Master, Heath heads up work at the UK-based technology consultancy and brought cutting-edge expertise to an advanced half-day session focused on the emerging “Agentic Layer” of AI.

The workshop explored how intelligent agents can act autonomously to drive outcomes, diving into multi-agent frameworks, decision chains and the ways this new paradigm is transforming operations, workflows and digital service delivery.

Attendees gained a practical understanding of how agentic systems can be securely designed, governed and embedded into real-world organisational environments, leaving with clear insight into how to integrate this innovative technology within their own businesses.

Heath Groves said: “It was a real pleasure to run the workshop in Hyndburn.

“The attendees were incredibly engaged and asked thoughtful, forward-looking questions about how agentic AI can support their organisations. There’s huge potential here, and it will be fantastic to see how businesses across the borough begin embedding the agentic layer into their operations in the months ahead.”

Following the programme’s continued success, Hyndburn Borough Council has now announced three new free workshops specifically tailored to those starting a business in the borough.

The first session, Unlocking Your Vision & Offer, will take place on Tuesday 28th April from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa.

This interactive workshop will help aspiring entrepreneurs shape their business idea by defining their purpose and mission, identifying core values, setting long-term goals and clarifying their competitive advantage. It will also guide attendees through crafting a compelling product or service, developing a strong unique selling proposition and creating a pricing strategy that balances value with demand.

On Tuesday 5th May, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa, Marketing & Sales Essentials for Your Startup will help new business owners define their ideal customer persona, understand their market and competitors and build an effective marketing and sales strategy. The session will explore routes to market and how to use social media platforms strategically to help brands stand out and attract loyal customers.

The final workshop in the new series, Funding & Financial Planning for Your Startup, will take place on Tuesday 12th May, again from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa. Designed to give start-ups the strongest possible financial foundation, the session will explore funding sources ranging from personal savings and grants to investors and crowdfunding. It will also provide practical guidance on budgeting, forecasting revenue, managing costs and implementing effective record-keeping and bookkeeping systems to ensure businesses remain profitable and well organised from day one.

To register for any of the free workshops, email [email protected]

Councillor Scott Brerton, cabinet member for business and growth at Hyndburn Borough Council, said: “Our business workshops over the past seven months have been absolutely fantastic. We’ve seen a real appetite from local entrepreneurs and business owners to learn, grow and embrace new ideas, from marketing tools right through to cutting-edge AI.

“We’re so excited to announce these new dates and continue supporting our local businesses and entrepreneurs as they start and scale their ventures here in Hyndburn.”

For more information on workshops, visit: https://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/events

Funding for this event has been provided by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.