A 'TASTER' for next year's Plymouth five-day Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp is to take place this month.

The Bootcamp was held in the city last year and was hailed as a great success by its organisers due to the number of participants who went on to set up and grow their own businesses.

It will be held again at the end of March next year – this time at the new i-Space at the University College Plymouth Marjon – but the organisers are offering a 'taster' session on Tuesday, November 18, as part of Plymouth's celebration of National Enterprise Week.

In 2007, 11 would-be entrepreneurs survived the Bootcamp project, which aimed to cram five years' experience into five days. This year's 'taster' session will attempt to squeeze those five days into just two hours.

Set in the 'home' of the 2009 Bootcamp, Marjon's i-Space will host the interactive session to provide would-be bootcampers with a taste of what to expect in March.

Featuring 'a little bit of everything the 2007 bootcampers faced', say organisers, the taster will give entrants the full flavour of what difference five days can make to the success of a business idea, and what they need to do to survive 'one of the most gruelling new business development programmes around'.

The 2009 bootcampers will be selected by sponsors through competitions hosted by The Herald and Marjon in February, so the taster will also be the first chance for participants to find out what qualities the sponsors are looking for in them.

Sue Windley, one of the designers of the Bootcamp, said: "Coming along to the taster session at the i-Space will not only give would-be entrepreneurs a flavour of what to expect; it will also let them see what sponsors are looking for.

"I certainly recommend any potential bootcampers to come along and get one step ahead of their competitors.

"We expect places on the 2009 Bootcamp to be more keenly contested so we are providing every opportunity for people to see what they might be letting themselves in for."

Mandi Barnett, a spokesman for i-Space, said: "The Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp is a radically new approach to nurture and establish new entrepreneurs in business.

"Each participant is sponsored and supported financially by a number of organisations, including Marjon, enabling entrants to concentrate their energy on growing an entrepreneurial idea.

"Last year it was a major success", she said. "This year, we believe, it will be bigger and better, and the taster session will provide just that – a taster for those who want to experience five years' of business growth in five days in just two hours!"

Places on the taster session are free of charge, but limited.

To book for the session, which will be between 10am and midday on Tuesday, November 18, call Mandi Barnett on 01752 636700 or contact the Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp through the website www. pragmaticperformancegroup.co.uk/ebc