A charity set up to help people into the world of business is celebrating its first full year helping the community from its new hub.

Work Avenue, which was established to help people find employment or run their own businesses, opened its first business hub, WE Hub, in Redbourne Avenue, Finchley in last year.

Its 15-strong membership has grown to 126 and the enterprise organisation has worked with 471 businesses across 2016 and place 349 people in employment.

CEO Shraga Zaltsman said: “Since founding Work Avenue, we have developed a simple model which delivers results.

“WE Hub was a natural continuation of our work, supporting those who need a gentle push into employment and nurturing business into sustainable entities.

“We listen to each individual and create a plan which makes sense for them.

“I’m extremely proud of everything we have achieved so far and look forward to building upon these achievements, supported by an excellent team.”

WE Hub has shared workspace for networking, mentoring, meetings and business development, encouraging interaction and collaboration between its members.

In October 2016, the charity held a mixer event with Google attended by more than 200 businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs, where they received advice on how to grow their businesses online.

Its fifth annual Women in the Workplace event, hosted in November last year, saw 120 delegates given advice by a line-up of inspiring and experts in their professional fields on many workplace topics.