Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Fellowship honour for Head of Enterprise
The fellowship celebrates the achievements of key influencers at the centre of enterprise education in the UK.
Simon joined Leeds Beckett in 1992, taking on his current role from 2014. His pioneering work has included leading his team to create our three University Business Centres (UBCs) in Leeds, Halifax and Wakefield, which support the growth of business start-ups across the region, and develop key university partnerships through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). Our MoU partners include Wakefield College, Calderdale Council and HMP Full Sutton.
The UBCs began life in the late 1990s as our Queen Square business incubator. Our UBCS now have clients across West Yorkshire who receive mentoring and tailored business support from the university and our partners, including the opportunity to collaborate on projects with our academics and students.
Simon said: “I feel proud to be awarded the fellowship - not just for me but for my team as I lead a great talented set of colleagues. It is important that when we get things right, they are celebrated and this recognition is further evidence that what we are striving to do with our UBC network is both pioneering and bang on the money!
“I think the trick is not so much what I’ve done but how I’ve done it through motivation, empowerment and encouragement of my team and through our outstanding relationships with stakeholder organisations which are built on a track record of trust and delivery of what is promised.”
The new EEUK fellowship was launched at the International Entrepreneurship Educators Conference at Leeds Beckett, with six fellows receiving the first awards on Thursday 6 September.
An EEUK Fellowship Assessor said: “Simon Baldwin, as a manager and regional leader, is an excellent example of someone who deserves to be recognised with this award. His reflections upon the strategic impact of his work as an ‘influencer’ (who is working to support others to deliver enterprise education) makes Simon a national trailblazer in having his approach recognised as a Fellow of EEUK.”
Simon added: “It is so important that universities embrace enterprise and entrepreneurship as it enhances employability opportunities for our students; it gives great transferrable skills which are applicable in all life situations where you can be enterprising within an organisation or specific context; it is critical to local economic development that new businesses are created and sustained to generate the jobs for the next generation; and it’s absolutely at the heart of national economic and policy development, being a key theme in the Government’s UK Industrial Strategy launched in 2017.”
Based on the IOEE National Occupational Standard for Enterprise & Entrepreneurship educators, the EEUK fellowship award offers the only sector-wide recognition that is equally available to all those working as enterprise educators, including academics, practitioners and influencers.
Enterprise Educators UK is the leading independent enterprise network for enterprise educators and works to connect educators and practitioners to share areas of best practice.