SMALL businesses in the Teignmouth area can now take advantage of specialist advice.

The first meeting of The Biz was held at the Oystercatchers restaurant recently, and follows the success of the launch in Dawlish last year.

The sessions include networking and talks for the self-employed or small microtraders, and the first Teignmouth meeting was also given a talk by experts from Business Bost, a new business support service offering a range of free advice and guidance for new or existing businesses up to three years old.

Taking the project to Teignmouth was made possible by a £200 grant from county councillor Richard Younger-Ross.

Other meetings are lined up for November and December and into 2017, and the speakers will include Charles Baughan from Westaway Sausages, David Rudall of Greenwood Accountancy, and Mandy Pearse from Seashell Communications.

Tracy Scranage, the town centre development manager, said: ‘Taking The Biz to Teignmouth after the success in Dawlish is a very exciting development.

‘The sessions are open to all businesses in the area and we hope to see lots of people at the first meeting in Teignmouth. We look forward to welcoming people to The Biz.’

 The next meeting is tomorrow, and starts at 5.30pm for refreshments and networking, followed by the talk from 6pm.

The Biz is free, and the contact for more information is Angie Weatherhead, the co-ordinator of Open DAW at Dawlish Community Information Centre, 01626 01626.