The new minister for business and enterprise, Michael Fallon, will be making his first official appearance on Thursday at MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival in Sheffield.  He will join Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, to celebrate entrepreneurship on the festival’s dedicated “Made in Britain” day.

Mr Fallon hopes to use his appearance to encourage young people to build businesses- focusing particularly on the value of mentoring. He will speak to members of the Intuit 100Up group - a group of young entrepreneurs – and their mentors. He will also chair a panel discussion on the role of guidance when developing business ideas, and present awards to the winners of the “Enterprising Britain” competition - the Department of Business Innovation and Skills’ search for the most enterprising places in the UK.

The minister said: “It will be great to meet entrepreneurs, listen to how they have been able to start and grow their businesses and offer details of how the Government can help them achieve their ambitions.”

The chairman of the festival, Michael Hayman, welcomed Mr Fallon, and said: “The minister’s message on the importance of mentoring will make a powerful contribution to this campaign.”