Bernard Ginns: Something stirs in city that aims to be entrepreneur's friend

Their message was simple. It could be expressed as this: "We are successful entrepreneurs and we are going to share with you the secrets of our success. We want to give something back to help inspire you, the next generation of entrepreneurs."

It was the inaugural MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival and based on the success of this event, it will be the first of many as the South Yorkshire city looks to position itself as the entrepreneurial capital of the UK and, in the words of council leader Paul Scriven, "the most business friendly city in the country".

Travelling around the Steel City were some very accomplished individuals, including Doug Richard, the UK-based American entrepreneur who has the ear of the new government on business support policies, Peter Jones, the angel investor star of Dragons' Den, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, who is behind the Black Farmer sausage brand, Lara Morgan, the founder and CEO of upmarket toiletries firm Pacific Direct, and Rachel Bridge, the author and chronicler of many successful entrepreneurs.

With them were political heavyweights such as Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, Mark Prisk, the Business Minister, David Blunkett, the hometown MP and former Home Secretary, and some high-ranking foreign diplomats.

During that first day, I had never heard the word "entrepreneur" mentioned so many times. Similarly, the most commonly heard expression was "enterprise-led recovery". If you say something enough, can it happen?

Hundreds of students gathered at Sheffield City College for the first event of the three-day festival. There was an excited throng around Mr Jones, whose millions helped found the National Enterprise Academy, which offers diplomas in enterprise and entrepreneurship to that valuable but underused resource – 16 to 18-year-olds.

He told me he believes entrepreneurs are "made, not born". There is a good chance his course will help fashion some of Sheffield's future employers.

Despite nursing a foot in plaster from a scooter accident, Doug Richard hosted a two-day boot camp at MADE, offering businesses a 48-hour masterclass in how to grow their business using the internet and social media, and launched his vision for an entrepreneurs' union to represent the collective interests of UK-based owner managers.

He said afterwards: "Taking something from ground zero, from a blank piece of paper to a national event of this size and influence is nothing short of awe-inspiring. There has been an overwhelming response to what we achieved over such a short period of time. There's no time to rest on laurels, this festival has simply proven what can be and must be done to support entrepreneurs in the UK."

Michael Hayman, a London-based public relations director who grew up in Sheffield, is the impresario behind MADE. He secured the speakers and private sector sponsors and worked with Creative Sheffield, the public sector economic development company, to stage the festival.

He said: "The MADE festival has ended but the expectations about it have only just begun. MADE has been an agenda-setting event at which Sheffield was clearly positioned as a 21st century, high-tech business city.

"The festival was a phenomenal showcase and a powerful catalyst for the reputation of the city. If you take the traffic on Twitter over the last few days alone, you will see a modern, confident Sheffield, interesting to new audiences and inspiring new ideas in business.

"When someone like Peter Jones tweets 'Wow how the city has changed! Inspired In Sheffield' you know you're making progress in the right direction."

Andrew Haigh, who is head of entrepreneurs at sponsor Coutts & Co, described MADE as "a great three days bringing together young entrepreneurs starting their business journey with some of the country's really successful business people."

He added: "We looked at what is needed to develop the entrepreneurs of tomorrow through the National Enterprise Academies, saw practical support for businesses working out how to grow using new media and gave broad feedback to the politicians as to how to position the enterprise recovery."

Mark Prisk, the Business Minister, joined 50 entrepreneurs for a private dinner on Thursday evening at the Crucible Theatre's Adelphi Room. He is keen to promote the image of a government that is listening.

I hope he follows up with some good policies that help would-be entrepreneurs to set up new businesses by reducing the ludicrous and prohibitive amount of red tape that litters the landscape for start-ups in the UK.

This will allow Sheffield and other towns and cities across Yorkshire to rise up as public sector spending is cut back.