Business Mentors in Leicestershire

Leicestershire is home to the Pork Pie and Stilton Cheese.

For centuries Melton was the place to be for hunting, with the royal, the rich and the famous spending autumns and winters in this Leicestershire town. However the city's oldest industry is hosiery and knitwear, and in the 19th century Leicester became famous for footwear manufacture.

The infamous holiday company Thomas Cook started as a modest train excursion to Loughborough in 1841, which led to the founding of an international travel company and the age of mass travel. Think of that when you're next able to book a break! Blu Tack the iconic piece of stationery was invented in this famous county too. The Bostik factory, in Overstrict Road, Belgrave, still produces up to 100 tonnes of Blu Tack every week.

Today Leicestershire still thrives with many businesses. Byron Dixon OBE, CEO and founder of Micro-Fresh has always been an entrepreneur at heart. When he was unable to afford a place at university at the age of 18, he chose to enter the retail industry and later secured a degree in chemistry from The Open University. He attended an event where he discussed his product, a chemical to stop mould growing on leather. From this he was informed about doing tests, validity etc, which led him to take it to Leicester University so they could run scientific tests, which he didn’t have the equipment or money to do, and Micro-Fresh® was born! Where does Byron’s entrepreneurial spirit come from? His mum raised five children on her own on a council estate in Leicester. When he was nine, a friend gave him an old chemistry set. It was his favourite toy. Byron has met a lot of entrepreneurs who are from similar backgrounds. “We have this natural fight in us but we’re also not afraid of losing. We’ve been through it all as kids. I was always told to treat business like a plunge pool. Jump in with both feet and just go for it. And it’s true: the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.”