THE founders of Bournemouth lender Amigo Loans and the accounting software company Xero will be the guest speakers at the next Virgin StartUp event.

Both will tell how they started their business and give tips on how other people can start theirs.

The title for the event is Start Your Business in 2018.

It will be held on Wednesday, January 24, 6-8.30pm, at This Workspace in the Daily Echo building.

James Benamor founded the Richmond Group in 1999, from a kitchen table with £100 to start with. He was 21 and his goal was to stop working in dead-end jobs.

The company has since lent more than £1billion, gained more than 500,000 customers and won several awards. It has been on the Sunday Times Best Place to Work list since 2008.

Gary Turner is co-founder and managing director of Xero, online accounting software for small business.

It has scaled from a three-person start-up in 2009, with annual revenue of £50,000, to having more than a million subscribers, valued at £1.4billion. It has won a record number of industry awards.

Places cost £10 including drinks, nibbles and Llaollao frozen yoghurt, with tickets available via Eventbrite.co.uk