Musician, restauranteur and philanthropist Levi Roots is set to share his unique brand of Caribbean sunshine with local businesses at an exclusive event held in Sheffield later this month.
Speaking at The Mowbray, Levi Roots will be guest of honour at a special event to showcase business mentoring and will mark the end of a month of activities, which celebrate the important support delivered by business mentors to new entrepreneurs throughout the Sheffield City Region.
The event has been organised by Launchpad Mentoring, which helps new business owners to access valuable one-to-one support from existing business owners and forms part of the Sheffield City Region-wide Launchpad programme. It is one of a number of events which has taken place during October to celebrate ‘mentoring month’, which encourages business owners to share their skills and expertise with new entrepreneurs who are taking their first steps in business.
During the special celebration event, Levi Roots will share stories from his exciting and varied career, which includes kitchen cooking, touring the world with James Brown, singing happy birthday to Nelson Mandela and even serenading the judges of Dragon’s Den.
As both a cook and a musician, Levi dedicated time to music before launching his famous Reggae Reggae Sauce; a warming blend of jerk and barbecue flavours which owes its inspiration to Levi’s grandmother, who taught him to cook as a child. Sold in South London record shops and at the Notting Hill Carnival, Levi’s sauce eventually found its way into the Dragon’s Den and onto the plates of the TV’s programme’s notorious judges.
Soon after securing a deal with the dragons and sharing his sunshine sauce with the great British palette, Levi published a range of cookery books and realised his ultimate dream: to open a Caribbean restaurant.
But alongside creating a diverse and successful brand, Levi is an active philanthropist, working with the Prince’s Trust as an ambassador and visiting young people in schools and prisons across the country.
Levi Roots, Founder of Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Foods, said:
“Self-employment can be a scary prospect and many business owners feel like they’re supposed to tackle all the problems they face on their own. There’s lots of help and advice available to new entrepreneurs, the key is just knowing where to find the right support.
“Mentoring was an important part of my business journey too and my first mentor helped me to change my approach and outlook to running the business. I think it was at that point, alongside the encouragement of my mum and children that I began to believe in my ideas.
“Mentors can help to offer a sounding board to explore new ideas, as well as helping to connect business owners with the support and advice they need. After appearing on Dragon’s Den my career took off in so many exciting directions and at an accelerated pace. Once again, the mentoring I received from Peter Jones proved to be instrumental in the development of my business. His guidance and business expertise were crucial to the final outcome.
“I feel honoured to have been asked to join the Launchpad team to celebrate the important role mentors play within supporting businesses in the Sheffield City Region and I’m looking forward to sharing my story with other entrepreneurs during the event. Launchpad mentoring has proved to be invaluable in helping hundreds of businesses throughout the Sheffield City Region to overcome barriers they are facing and for anyone who is new to business and unsure how to grow and develop their ideas, getting involved with mentoring programmes can be an invaluable experience.”
Irshad Akbar, Business Mentoring Manager, Launchpad, said:
“The Mowbray is a relatively new venue in Sheffield, and we felt it offered the perfect destination for new entrepreneurs from across the city region to come together, and hear from arguably one of Britain’s best known and most colourful business owners.
“The event promises to offer a unique opportunity for both new entrepreneurs and experienced business owners to come together and celebrate the important contribution mentoring makes towards shaping the local economy and Launchpad’s Mentoring programme has proved to be invaluable to hundreds of new businesses throughout the Sheffield City Region, through helping them to overcome barriers to success.
“Learning from an experienced business owner can help entrepreneurs to learn new skills and approaches that enhance their ability to run their business smoothly and enable it to grow. We’re proud to offer this service for free as we want to remove barriers to success for talented, determined entrepreneurs
“We’re thrilled that Levi will be joining us for this celebration of mentors in business, as his exciting and ambitious career is inspiring to many – we encourage anybody with business aspirations to attend our event and benefit from Levi’s motivational advice.”
The Launchpad Mentoring Celebration Evening is open to aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses which have been trading for under two years. Any existing business owners interested in finding out more about becoming a business mentor are also welcome to participate. The event is free to attend and takes place at The Mowbray on Friday 26th October.
