Category: Blog

Introducing Ronan Descy, Founder of Bike Form Fitting Ronan Descy’s passion for all things cycling initially lead him into a fourteen career as a bike fitter. Using the same products day in and day out, Ronan became frustrated with the quality of fitting products on the market. The entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and in 2016 Ronan began to prototype his own versions, aiming to offer better products to the industry as well as his own clients. BIPC Devon spoke to Ronan about his snowballing small business success story… For someone who doesn’t know about your business, what is that you do? “FORM Bikefitting services a niche area of the cycling industry called bike fitting. I design, manufacture and sell products that are used to optimise the biomechanics (movement and function) of riders on a bicycle.  The products are used to adjust a rider’s contact points with the bike, primarily between the foot and pedal. With the smallest of modifications it is possible to have a significant impact on comfort and/or the potential performance that a rider can achieve on their bike. Considering a rider’s legs are the “engine”, a compromised interface can cause issues, from inefficiency to injury. These products

Down Stage Write is a theatre company dedicated to creating development and production opportunities for playwrights in Devon and Cornwall. Founded by playwrights Jon Nash and Sam Parker in 2018, in response to the scaling back of literary departments in theatres across the South West. In just five short years the organisation has gone from hosting it’s evening of short plays, to receiving over fifty thousand pounds in Arts Council support to create a series of new writing projects across the region.  They have supported the emerging careers of dozens of new writers, with many of their alumni writing and touring work which began at a Down Stage Write workshop. Just a few of these examples include Exeter based playwright Hattie Collins, who brought her most recent play to London’s Vaults festival and has now received ACE funding to tour regionally, as well as Fringe First award winning playwright and Plymouth Laureate of words Laura Horton, whose most recent play Breathless is now touring internationally.  BIPC Devon speaks to their co-artistic director Sam Parker, about the realities of building a new writing company in today’s current funding climate, exploring the highs, the lows and everything in between. For those that

Mimi Jones is the founder of Queer Out Loud performance hub based in Plymouth. Mimi is Plymouth’s Young City Laureate for 2023, a freelance poet, events co-ordinator and playwright living in the city. When they started attending performance poetry evenings at age nineteen, they soon realised that the audiences they were performing for struggled to relate to the topics of queer identity explored in their poetry. In an effort to create a space in which they could share their experiences with other members of the queer community, ‘Queer Out Loud’ was born. After selling out their very first gig in a tiny venue in October 2022, ‘Queer Out Loud’ events only continue to grow. BIPC Devon talks to Mimi about combining their creative passion with entrepreneurship and their journey so far…. For those that don’t know how would you describe what you do? Queer Out Loud is a Queer events group. We predominantly run performance nights, but we’re also looking into running writing workshops which will develop into staged performances. We’re aiming to create a space where they can talk about their experiences with people who understand, or just at least have knowledge of the queer experience – walking to

Space Property Staging Founder, Dani Trow, has been involved in property for over 17 years, buying and renovating properties to a high standard ready for sale. Dani has also been working a corporate role within the investment industry for a number of years, but in 2022 took the leap to transform her love for property and interior styling to launch her own venture. BIPC Devon talks to Dani about her small business journey.. To those that don’t know what Space Property Staging, what is that you do? “Home staging is a service, it’s a marketing tool that helps people sell their homes faster and for more money, that’s the crux of it. So what we do is we provide furniture and furnishings to help present homes beautifully, so when people are looking at property listings on the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla, there are beautiful photos of a really aspirational home that people will stop and look at. The Instagram and Pinterest generation expect homes to be presented at their best. It’s a bit like if you were going to a job interview where you want to look your best, it’s exactly the same concept for a home. We work