X-Forces is delighted to announce that ICAEW, the institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, will be supporting X-Forces 3rd Birthday this summer!

X-Forces CEO, Ren Kapur said, “Collaboration and partnerships are at the heart of what X-Forces do. Working with ICAEW is an excellent example of organisations joining forces to reach more beneficiaries and businesses across England and Wales, providing the necessary support for business start-up and scale up. We look forward to developing the relationship in the months and years to come.”

In conjunction we will be releasing a series of articles supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners by answering some of the frequently asked questions we receive from individuals thinking of embarking on self-employment, through to those scaling up and employing staff.

These articles have been put together by X-Forces and Clive Lewis form ICAEW. Clive is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Management Accountant. After qualifying, he held a number of finance roles in business mainly in the electronics sector. His last role was Finance Director of a small quoted public company. Since starting at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) he has specialised in the accounting, finance and financial management of start-up and smaller businesses.

“Every year approximately 20,000 personnel leave the Armed Forces. Many Services personnel have very marketable skills, qualifications or contacts which will be valued by employers in the private sector. However, given the increasing trend towards self-employment in the private sector, more ex-Services people should be considering setting up their own business.

“ICAEW is pleased to be joining up with X-Forces to help make the journey to self-employment for ex-forces personnel as well informed as possible” said Clive Lewis.

X-Forces has now supported over 650 start-up businesses to launch and have facilitated over £6.8 million in seed-funding. We also provide Enterprise Skills training free of charge to anyone considering self-employment, as we believe enterprise skills are life skills that are important not only for entrepreneurs but also intrapreneurs that bring innovation to the companies they work within.

To find out more about X-Forces support to service leavers, veterans, reservists, spouses, dependants and cadets please visit our website (www.x-forces.com) or register by calling 0800 307 7545. Help for businesses can also be obtained from ICAEW’s Business Advice Service. This is a free straightforward discussion with an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. Further information can be found at www.businessadviceservice.com