Sheffield Chamber signs up 1,000th beneficiary

​Se7en Media Productions has become the 1,000th firm to benefit from a national start-up programme run by Sheffield Chamber of Commerce’s Enterprise Agency (SENTA).

Se7en is a Sheffield-based film and video production company run by Christopher Sabaoth and Benedict Pheta, which was established after the 23-year-olds returned to the city after graduating from university.

The firm is building up a portfolio of videos for clients across a number of sectors including logistics, healthcare and technology.

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The scheme gives individuals a weekly, tax-free allowance for the first six months of running their business plus access to a range of practical support, including one-to-one sessions with a professional business advisor and a business planning workshop.

Mr Sabaoth said: “We had already written a business plan because we had been thinking about self-employment since university. However, the help that we got at SENTA made us realise the plan wasn’t refined enough and we had quite a bit more work to do.

“Starting a business can be very daunting because there are just so many uncertainties and a lot of people don’t realise how much free help is out there for them in Sheffield.”

SENTA business support manager Paul Tinsley said: “The NEA programme offers expert business mentoring and financial support to people living on benefits and has been behind a wide range of new ventures in Sheffield since it was introduced in 2011 including ICT, construction, engineering, cleaning – and now film and media, too.”