Ashleigh, founder of Cook It Up travelled the world for inspiration for her fresh home-cooked meals and bakery, which is now going down very well in her local area of Hucknall. She has amassed forty pages of notes from her calls with Digital Boost mentors from BT, Google, and others, which she is acting on with support from a growing network. One mentor, ex-Walt Disney, and BMW Designworks expert Mahima Karol, a digital design and e-commerce specialist, has followed her journey and has high hopes for future nationwide success.

HBR found only 4% of companies consider disability a part of their diversity strategy. Power2Inspire CEO John Willis knows that bringing people together through sport opens minds and sought help from Digital Boost to prove it. Digital Boost, a charity offering one-hour mentoring sessions on a huge range of digital challenges SME’s face, connected John with a data scientist, a data storyteller, and a fundraising expert to help him overcome his barriers to growth. John said: “Working with Digital Boost has taken us in new and unexpected directions towards our vision that no-one is left on the bench.”

Rachel, founder of Akers of Art went through six months of pain in 2020 as she re-focused her business to offer online clay and jewellery-making workshops, and art installations for public spaces. With support from her mum and a local charity partner, she is busier than ever and optimistic about the reach her new digital presence will deliver. A conversation with experts at Digital Boost inspired a dream to create a life-size tree installation in Birmingham dedicated to victims of Covid-19.

Mary, owner of Hippersons Boatyard was already planning to move her customer journey and marketing activity online when the pandemic hit. But a focused conversation with a Digital Boost mentor from BT opened her eyes to the power of YouTube and gave customer insights that helped make her holiday experiences unique. Now, bookings are higher than ever, and she plans to take advantage of the demand for stay-cations.

Jess, founder of Public Persona created a business in 2021 to help non-native English speakers like her living in the U.K. gain confidence and improve their career value. When she lost her job due to the pandemic, she decided to explore a long-held ambition to start up on her own. As a new business owner, having several free mentoring conversations with website experts at Digital Boost has helped her shortcut to the information she needs to create digital assets.

Amarachi, founder of Lucocoa Chocolate makes and sells her own ‘Bean to Bar’ chocolate. In February 2020, her customers were high end hotels and restaurants and a new factory in Bermondsey was ready to manufacture, when Covid-19 took away 90% of her business overnight. She switched to selling direct to consumers online and drove sales up 300%. A Digital Boost mentor from Apple helped Amarachi sense-check her strategy and pushed her to explore even greater opportunities.

Krishna, founder of Mistry Lighting was creating innovative lighting design for restaurants when she lost her job due to Covid-19. She turned her passion for lighting and sustainability into a business, helping people create beautiful schemes for their homes. A Digital Boost mentor from BT helped Krishna create an Instagram following and get her business off the ground.

Georgia is an administrative assistant at the Sue Lambert Trust where she has created an online presence for the charity for the first time through self-taught digital marketing and social media activity. She was helped by Digital Boost to understand analytics and is planning to return and build her design skills.

Amanda, founder of Mann’s Cookies created her first-ever business with the help of her family, baking and delivering fun and delicious cookies nationwide. Digital Boost helped her optimise her social media content and build partnerships with other businesses to help her grow.

Rachel from Creative Active Lives worked with Digital Boost to help her understand how to reach new customers online who could benefit from her activity kits for adults and children with physical and learning difficulties, to grow her business in new directions.