THE Furness branch of the Federation of Small Businesses has announced a new event designed for young business owners.

Phil Collier, chairman of the Furness FSB, unveiled the initiative saying that more events were needed to encourage young business owners to become part of the business community.

The event takes place on October 17 at Abbey House Hotel in Barrow, and will feature talks from Dan Austin, 29, managing director of Lake District Farmers, and Kerry Kolbe, 38, co-director of Signal Film and Media.

Mr Collier said: “FSB at the Lancashire and Cumbria region, is full of old gits like me and we need to be thinking about the next generation of FSB members, the people who are going to come through and start getting involved and drive the FSB forward.

“We need to be producing the young business entrepreneurs, and we’re running an event aimed at the younger business people in the area.

“Dan and Kerry are very dynamic directors so, whether you’re young or not so young, come and listen to him speaking.”

About the event, Ms Kolbe, said: “I haven’t really been involved in the FSB before so I’m a good example of how the organisation is diversifying. I do think it’s a good opportunity to bring together a mixture of experienced and new business owners.

“I think that there’s value for everyone to find in this, older business people can learn about how the new generation is operating while younger people can get a better handle on the business landscape.

“I’ll be talking about my experience of setting up the business in my 20s, as well as getting over the barriers that your age might present and that people might not take you as seriously."