LOCAL business leaders went clubbing this week for the launch of the Bolton Young Entrepreneur Programme.

Fifteen would-be tycoons in the 18 to 30 age range will be selected for cash assistance and intensive help and advice which starts this summer.

This will include intensive weekend courses and friendly attention from "mentors" - successful business people who make themselves available to provide regular information, help and encouragement.

About 200 people turned-up for a fund-raising evening at the Club Mondo nitespot near Bolton town centre.

Club boss John Musso - a former DJ who has built a successful business empire from scratch - was the catalyst for the scheme.

His company has put in £10,000 and there have been other donations from Bolton Council, Business Link Bolton and Bury, the Bolton Evening News, The European Regional Development Fund, Barclays Bank, P G Bogle & Co, Craftprint and Virgin Trains.

The black-tie evening, which featured a free buffet provided by town centre restaurants and a local fashion show, raised about £3,500 for the fund, which now stands at £55,000.

Short speeches included an appeal from the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Peter Birch.

He said: "I hope that you, the local Business Community upon which the wealth of the town depends, can help support this initiative in whatever way you can."

Bolton Council's environment director, Ray Jefferson, pointed out that already more than 150 new business start-ups were supported in Bolton each year.

He welcomed the fact that so many business people had now come together to help young people.

Mr John Waters, managing director of the Bolton Evening News and Bury Times Group, spoke of encouraging new businesses for the Millennium which would stand the test of time in the same way as those established in Bolton by entrepreneurs such as James Preston and Henry Warburton.

Mr Mark Allanson, general manager of Business Link Bolton and Bury, said: "I'm convinced we have the talent in Bolton to find new Richard Bransons - young people with dreams, aspiration and style.

"As the business community we owe it to them and those they may employ to help them make it."

Details of the Bolton Young Entrepreneur Programme are available from Bill Singleton, Bolton Enterprise Services, Bolton Enterprise Centre, Washington Street, Bolton BL3 5EY. Tel: 01204 391494.

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