THE FOUNDER of a Bradford-based business is starting a mentorship scheme to create jobs in the city.

Gemma Andrews, managing director of Superfoods - an online retailer, says she would like to create 100 jobs in the #Bradford100 scheme.

The aim of the scheme is to work with business owners in Bradford to create an online presence and an income stream for businesses who are struggling.

She said: “Thirty-nine businesses have applied for the scheme so far, all of which are stock-based retailers with a physical presence in the city.”

The mentoring covers only practical areas such as warehousing, picking, packing, order processing and online marketplaces.

There will also be help with order fulfilment, arbitrage postage and upscaling.

She added: “Most of these businesses are sadly struggling due to consumer trends switching to online retail channels and declining high street footfall in the local area.

“I am hoping to apply my skills to help around 20 Bradford-based small and medium-sized enterprises grow.”

Mark Palfreyman, a business owner currently being mentored in the scheme along with partner Andy Dixon, said: “I’m hoping that with Gemma’s help, we will be able to streamline our fulfilment and logistics operations, scale our business to new heights and develop strategies to help us maximise customer acquisition.”

Mr Palfreyman, director of online technology retailer duqe.co.uk, added: “Bradford is a vibrant city.

“Gemma clearly sees Bradford’s potential, and is proactively trying to kick-start growth.

“If we can attract and grow business to the city, the rest will follow.”

Val Summerscales, secretary for the Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: “The fact that someone is trying to bring more jobs into the city of Bradford is commendable.

“The online mentoring side will inevitably lead to more jobs per se which is better than no jobs at all.

“Local employees will also patronise existing shops in surrounding areas which is good.”

Superfood-market.com is a Bradford based business which currently trades in 48 countries and is a multi-million pound enterprise.

Anyone who runs a business in Bradford and would like to be considered for the mentoring boot camp, should email gemma @superfood-market.com.