Chris Lauder — Dublin School of Grinds

‘People don’t realise the level of support that’s out there’ Chris Lauder.

One recent beneficiary of the supports available to new and existing businesses through the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is Chris Lauder, founder of The Dublin School of Grinds.

More than 32,000 students have attended courses run by The Dublin School of Grinds since it was founded in 2010, covering almost every subject on the school curriculum. In February the school will move into 40,000sqft of dedicated education floor space in the Stillorgan, South Dublin.

Chris (28) was a Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown county finalist in the Best Established Business category of this year’s Irish Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) awards, which is run by the LEO. Chris said: “It was a really fantastic experience, which was facilitated by the LEO. I got to meet some really interesting people — people of a similar age to me with similar stories. There were also a number of presentations given by a number of incredible facilitators who had experiences which they shared with all of us.”

Given his own positive experience with the LEO, Chris believes it is important that other entrepreneurs are aware of the facilities on offer. Chris explained:

People don’t realise the level of support that’s out there, and it just involves going into your Local Enterprise Office and asking the question, ‘What can you do to help me?’. I can guarantee you’re going to get a whole host of facilities and resources which could be fundamental to growing your company — be it funding, mentoring, training, networking, or be it just introductions to people who can help you on your journey.