Although based in Leicester, we have access to facilities and associates throughout the region. We are financially successful and independent but of course, as part of the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce group we can draw on their central services of IT, finance, export documentation, HR services etc.

Business Builder commenced trading on 1st April 2005 and our main area of activity since commencement has been the delivery of various contracts.

Business Support Programmes

We have delivered a range of business support programmes assisting new start and established businesses to grow through developing their people and improving business performance.

See more details on our Contracts page about the contracts and services we have delivered since starting up in 2005.

Project Management

In December 2007 we became project managers of City Strategy Leicester, which was a Department of Work and Pensions initiative, operating in 14 other cities throughout England.  The purpose of City Strategy was to find new and innovative ways of supporting the long term unemployed and hard to reach members of society back in to employment.

This work continued when Business Builder won contracts under Working Neighbourhood Funding to continue with the delivery of co-ordination services for "Routeway" pre-employment skills courses delivered by Leicester College.  (See Routeways).  We also established an Employer Engagement team to work with local businesses regarding recruitment and skills. (See One Skilled Workforce).  Funding for the contract ended on 31st October 2011.

Key Personalities

Business Builder is led by Paul Murphy
Director of Business Builder.

Paul has over 20 years experience at directorship level managing and successfully completing large projects in the UK and overseas. Paul is familiar with the role as project leader and has gained project management skills from working on large contracts with BP, Shell, RTZ and many government bodies.

Paul has worked within the Chamber and Business Link network for the past 9 years in a variety of roles at senior levels.

Since 2005 all his time has been spent creating and managing Business Builder. The company has completed several substantial business support programmes, project management programmes and strategic planning.  Paul has been involved with all aspects of delivery including management coaching, bespoke training and mentoring.

Prior to joining the Chamber Paul acted as a Non-Executive Director assisting the development of a young high growth company. He utilised his business experience to assist in the development of a business that trebled its turnover in the first 5 years. Paul also acts as a mentor with Nottingham Business Venture and is actively involved. A combination of these events persuaded Paul to join the Chamber in order to take a more pro-active and in depth role in the development of business support for SME’s in the region. This in turn has led to the project management opportunities that Business Builder currently hold.

Business Builder is co-ordinated by Jackie Ledger
Business Builder Project Co-ordinator.

Jackie has worked in a variety of industry sectors, primarily in an administrative/project co-ordination role and as a business development manager.
Jackie joined Business Builder in 2008 and has been responsible for the implementation and monitoring of several publicly funded contracts. Jackie was responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of the ‘Shop Front Improvement and Security Grant Scheme’ which was delivered on time and to budget, with all key targets being achieved or exceeded.

Jackie currently has a co-ordinating role for all existing contracts and oversees the ‘Young Chamber’ programme for Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce.

Jackie has gained significant experience in customer relationship management both from her role at Business Builder and in previous roles. She has built and maintained strong working relationships with customers, contractors and partners through a combination of understanding their needs and working with them to satisfy their ambitions.

Business Builder Other Projects
Kathryn Preece - LBRO Associate - Business Engagement

Kathryn came on board with Business Builder when we were asked to host the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) project.  LBRO (a nongovernmental department established to reduce regulatory burdens on business) is working in partnership with Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership to explore the potential of developing a new relationship between local businesses and regulatory services such as Environmental Health, Trading Standards, the Fire Service and HMRC. Businesses regularly cite regulation as being a barrier to growth and the aim of the project is to provide a joint offer of support from regulatory services to enable business to overcome both the real and perceived regulatory barriers.