OCTOBER 31 is the last day to enter Taunton Business Incentive scheme for 2014.

Under the scheme, business in Taunton Deane could win a superb package of exposure, advice and support for the coming year in a dynamic competition just launched.
The Taunton Business Incentive 2014 is a project supported by a raft of established and successful companies in conjunction with Santander bank and the County Gazette.
The project is all about providing opportunities, breaking down barriers, celebrating and supporting the fantastic businesses and entrepreneurs in Taunton Deane and networking.
There are two categories:
Turnover up to £100k
Turnover from £101k to £1million.
Martin Lock, partner at Francis Clark and the promoter for the TBI, said: “When the opportunity arose to be involved in this year’s Taunton Business Incentive I was del-ighted to volunteer my services and for Francis Clark to become the official promoter.
“We all know how challenging it can be running a new or developing business in the current economic climate.
“I spend a great deal of my professional life at Francis Clark assisting exactly the type of business that the Taunton Business Incentive is seeking to support to overcome the daily challenges that they face.
“Taunton Deane has many ambitious entrepreneurs who have embarked on an exciting journey seeking to achieve their goals.
“If together with the support of the other sponsors I am able to help them get closer to those goals then it can only benefit the local community as a whole.” 
Last year’s winner was Eskeez, a thermal base layer clothing company founded by Karen Jolley.
This year Karen has joined the judging panel.
She told the Gazette: “Last year we ran a successful incentive to find the best small business in the Taunton Deane area and this year we’ve involved more sponsors to make it bigger and better so we can reach even more inspirational people and businesses.
“The sponsors of this event may appear to come from a diverse range of specialisms but we all have a common vision – a real belief in the entrepreneurial spirit of businesses in Taunton Deane.
“This spirit has, of course, been severely tested over the past few years.
“Things have undoubtedly been tough but there have been real signs of recovery in the economy in the past year and this feeling is now feeding through to the numbers.
“62% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have reported growth in the last financial year, with an average increase in turnover of 14%; in fact it has been the smallest SMEs that have seen the largest increase in turnover.
“SMEs are, without a doubt, the key to continuing economic prosperity and that is why we want to show our support to the fantastic SMEs in Taunton Deane.
“Two businesses can win a marketing and business support package for their business to really propel them into an even more successful 2015.
“The word incentive means ‘a thing that motivates or encourages someone to do something’ – our hope is that TBI 2014 motivates and encourages the SMEs of Taunton Deane to seize those opportunities.”
Looking back on her success in the competition, Karen Jolley, of innovative business Eskeez, said: “We were very pleased and excited to be recognised for our marketing and manufacturing efforts in the South West, particularly given the calibre of the ent-rants in the 2013 competition.
“As a relative newcomer to the area it was a great surprise and honour for Eskeez to be awarded the prize.
“Our versatile thermal base layer system is sold through numerous different channels all over the UK, Europe and beyond, and winning this competition has given us much greater regional exposure and the opportunity to meet and build relationships with local business partners.
“There is a rich seam of talent and innovation in this area and we have experienced exciting developments within our business as a result.”
Eskeez is based in central Taunton and has a policy of using local and regional resource wherever possible.
“All marketing, administration support, acc-ounting, legal, research and development etc is done locally.
Karen added: “While the economic development of our region might not yet be on a par with some of our more ‘accomplished’ geographical neighbours, today it feels that we have more local businesses than in the past adopting aggressive strategies for marketing their products and services outside the region – and in doing so they are finding more opportunities and winning many new customers.
“The really good news is that attitudes towards business development in our region seem to be quickly improving.
“Meeting other business owners locally, I have noticed a distinct change in attitude of local businesses to how they promote and market themselves. 
“Of course, this can only be good for local businesses, our local economy and the future of our region. We have the talents – let’s use them!”