Business Support in Essex
Our support helps businesses across Essex to thrive
Looking for support for your business?
Are you already actively selling your products and/or services to customers? If you need help to tackle a challenge or to grow your business then we can help - all for free!
Each eligible business can receive up to 3 hours of free business advice, delievered by an experienced, qualified advisor and tailored to your needs.
Get in touch today to book an appointment with one of our experts.
Meet our Advisors
Booked appointments with an advisor last one hour. Arrange your fully funded, confidential business advice session with a Colbea business advisor now!
Keith Powell Business Advisor
Lives in Billericay and has been married for 58 years with two children and four grand-children. Keith spent 25 years in the packaging industry in a variety of jobs, finally spending seven years as a salesman.
During this time, he attended night school at North East London Polytechnic (University of London) to obtain his Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Following being employed in a variety of marketing and management positions in the office supplies, photographic equipment and garage equipment industries, he decided to go it alone and started his own consultancy giving advice on the selection and implementation of commercial computer systems to mainly medium sized engineering companies with accreditation and grant assistance from such organisations as PERA, 3i, Essex TEC and Business Link.
Following retirement from this as his principal activity nearly fifteen years ago, although remaining in contact with some of his clients on a non-executive capacity, he joined Colbea as a Business Adviser primarily to provide one-to-one start-up business advice.
He has also run business health checks on established businesses, assisted in the formation of a number of Community Interest Companies, provided support for a number of DWP initiatives under partnership agreements with other local organisations and helped businesses to obtain funding under the Start-up Loan Scheme and grant assistance LEADER, KEEP+, LoCase and the EAFRD Growth Programme and Innovate UK initiatives. He has helped more than 500 start-up business with Colbea and twice been short-listed as Enterprise Support Champion of the Year by the National Enterprise Network.
For two and a half years he was also responsible for providing support on behalf of Colbea to start-up and developing businesses on the Dengie peninsula developing this new service from scratch. In the process he has worked with local government and business organisations in the area and extended Colbea’s advice services to Chelmsford and Rochford districts. He remains on the Steering Group of the River Crouch Coastal Communities Team.
Mandeep Gabhari Business Advisor
Since starting his first business venture of a restaurant in 1994, Mandeep not only went on to run numerous businesses within the hospitality sector, but undertook
several charitable and voluntary roles. Including being a committee member for a regular Children with Cancer Summer event, and being a Trustee Director for both Vision Redbridge & Redbridge CVS.
Entering the world of business mentoring/advising in 2003 by joining the Prince’s Trust as Business Mentor and Member of the Funding Panel, he continues working with start-ups and existing SMEs, from all sector, to guide them towards success. And joined Colbea as a business advising in January 2019
As a serial entrepreneur, he uses all his skills & knowledge learnt through past experiences, for the activities of Events
Organising/Consulting; Business Mentoring/Advising; Personal Mind-set motivation; Hospitality Consulting/Influencing; Inspirational Speaking.
Mandeep Singh Gabhari | LinkedIn
Alasdair Wilcock Business Advisor
Alasdair Wilcock | LinkedIn
