Open Goal broke new ground when it was distributed exclusively to fans attending matches at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Old Trafford in Manchester.

The magazine, which is produced by Rich Media in Sunderland, received support from NStar’s Finance & business programme. Keen to learn more about the funding available to growing businesses, Richard Stonehouse, the magazine’s founder and editor, attended one of the programme’s Introduction to Finance courses earlier this year.

After attending the course, Richard was able to take advantage of the new on line e-mentoring service to find out more about sources of funding. He was then put in touch with one of the programme’s expert advisors, who identified NStar’s new Design and Creative Fund as a suitable source of finance.  

Richard explains: “I’d been working on the business plan for several months when I found out about Finance & business. The programme has been invaluable. The advisors are hugely experienced and quickly helped me to find the investment I needed to go forward.” 
 
Thanks to the lead from Finance & business, Richard was put in touch with the Design and Creative Fund and has become its first investment. Following trial runs at the Emirates and Old Trafford, it expects to be the highest circulating football magazine ever when it is distributed to fans attending Premier League matches from 2008.

The introductory course was excellent. We were looking for advise on different sources of funding so it was perfect for us
Laura Williams, Zest Innovation

It gave us a good insight into how finance could help our company
Bob Redfearn, High Force Research

Finance is a useful and interesting way without being patronising
Kate Gordon, Internstudy.com

Running a business is a whole new ball game. NStar have my recommendation for any new and small business
Paul Berry, Photographer