CRAVEN business leaders were given an inspiring talk by former BBC Apprentice candidate, Ruth Whiteley.

Speaking at the seventh anniversary celebrations of the Skipton and Ripon Enterprise Group held at Broughton Hall, Ms Whiteley gave a special talk about the importance and value of a good business mentor.

“To start and run your own business is a real challenge,” she said. "And, no matter what stage your business is at, having an experienced and successful business leader to talk with can be a tremendous help."

The Skipton and Ripon Enterprise Group (SREG), which has been going since 2010, is a network of experienced business leaders dedicated to providing enterprise mentoring to companies in the Skipton, Ripon and surrounding areas.

SREG mentors come from a broad range of business backgrounds and support is completely free and confidential.

Ms Whiteley said: “I really support the work the Skipton and Ripon Enterprise Group mentors do - and that’s why I was so happy to be invited to talk at their anniversary event.”

The event was attended by many of the group's mentors and businesses that have done much to support local enterprise over the last seven years.

It was hosted by Alex Robinson, chairman of SREG and Group Commercial Director of Skipton Building Society.

Alex, who was one of the group's founding members, talked of how the 80 mentors had provided support to around 200 business leaders and had worked with a range of businesses from sole traders, professional partnerships, not for profit and larger limited organisations.

Andy Barton, SREG’s Chief Executive, said: “You might imagine that operating in a market town based economy, the majority of our clients would either be in hospitality and tourism. But in actual fact these account for less than 30 per cent of our clients, while the knowledge economy and manufacturing sectors represent well over 50 per cent of all the businesses we work with.”

Ms Whiteley, who lives in Harrogate, has a successful pedigree in business, founding Impact Sales Training Ltd 15 years ago with her husband Andy.