Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Early stage businesses, aspiring entrepreneurs and enterprise students celebrated at Leeds Beckett event
The Leeds Enterprise Network Event, organised by the University and hosted by The Yorkshire Post, celebrated the work of both our students and Enterprise and Innovation Hub clients - from innovative websites to a Corporate Mental Strength Training Programme.
Fran Parkinson, Operations Manager for the Enterprise and Innovation Hub, said: “The evening was a great celebration of the many enterprise activities taking place in the University to help support enterprise students and anyone setting up in business.
“We were privileged to have Greg Wright, Deputy Business Editor of The Yorkshire Post, introduce our guest speakers for the evening and were delighted to welcome Professor Cathy Barnes from our Retail Institute and Dan McCormack of Lupton Fawcett Denison Till to present the awards to this year’s winners. The legal advice and business mentoring provided by Lupton Fawcett Denison Till is invaluable to our Business Advantage Award winners and already they are making the most of the support on offer.
“Special Guest Speaker, Kirsty McGregor of Angels Den, also provided a fascinating insight into the world of crowdfunding, encouraging start-ups and early stage businesses to consider crowdfunding as a potential source of funding for their business initiatives and ideas. Kirsty kindly came to our Digital Hub the next week to deliver one-on-one half-hour crowdfunding sessions.”
Leeds Beckett graduates who were successful on the night included Hayley Thompson and Raymond Pelekamoyo.
Hayley, who graduated with a BA (Hons) Events Management degree, won the Business Concept Competition Award for her website ‘Music Festival News’ - the project which she started in her bedroom. In the next year Hayley plans to increase content, producing a weekly newsletter and fully commercialising the concept.
Raymond, BA (Hons) International Business graduate and founder of Landan Consultants, was presented with the Business of the Year award. Landan’s is an innovative digital marketing advisory services firm with a growing portfolio in the UK and Africa.
On presenting the awards, Professor Barnes commented: “I was delighted to be able to present the awards to the student entrepreneurs, who are a credit to Leeds Beckett University. I have no doubt they will go on to have successful careers and be great ambassadors for the University.”
Dan McCormack presented the Lupton Fawcett Business Advantage Award to five Enterprise and Innovation Hub clients: Phil Netherton of Euroventure, Paul Kaye of Intelliqa, Chris Hassall of U-Comply Risk Management, David Turner of Codera, who is based in the Digital Hub, and Leeds Beckett student, Zainah Khan, for her project Chakra.
Zainah, who is studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy, as well as working in financial services at the University, is due to launch Chakra, a Corporate Mental Strength Training Programme which focuses on increasing the stress-resilience and motivation of managerial staff in the finance and legal industries over the next few months. Zainah will deliver a range of workshops and training sessions to support her project, including neuro-linguistic programming, cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness meditation, mental toughness, expressive arts, emotional intelligence and group dynamics.
Speaking about winning the award, Zainah said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won the Business Advantage Award and believe that this incredible opportunity is really going to give Chakra a solid foundation upon which to launch. I am very excited about working with Lupton Fawcett Denison Till and being able to use their expertise to benefit my consultancy, as well as to expand my knowledge and networks. The initial experience of delivering my business pitch and gaining feedback from the panel has already taught me a huge amount and I look forward to developing myself and the business further with this award.”
Co-founder of online tour operator, Euroventure, Phil commented: “Although we’ve been trading successfully and expanding for four years, real success is measured by how much you can grow and scale up a business in the long term. Winning the Business Advantage Award with Lupton Fawcett has given us some strong foundations on which to do that.”
Euroventure puts together set routes or customised packages for European rail holidays with rail and accommodation for young people aged 18-24, as well as catering for more experienced travellers up to retirement age.
The Enterprise and Innovation Hub, in collaboration with Hammerson, is set to run a competition in November 2016 which will offer businesses with innovative and exciting ideas the chance to win: prize money of up to £2,000; a year’s free membership to the Chamber of Commerce; six months’ free Registered Business Address and Mail Forwarding; a half hour business growth diagnostic; and £1000 worth of accountancy and tax support from WGN
Information on this, and other services offered by The Enterprise and innovation Hub.