Latest enterprise news from EEUK members

Written by Kate Beresford

LSBU: Students provide award-winning solutions for the local business community

London South Bank University’s (LSBU) Business Solutions Centre, a student-led initiative providing bespoke advice to local businesses, has been awarded the Enterprising Learning Provider of the Year Award at this year’s IOEE Celebrating Enterprise Awards. Since opening in 2016, 26 student Advisors from LSBU’s School of Business have supported 60 entrepreneurs on a range of issues including marketing and financial planning. Daniele Nebiolo, an Accounting and Finance student and Business Solutions Advisor, said: “We’ve gained a lot of experience at the Centre by helping start-ups in the community. It really is the best way to put our knowledge into practice.”

Portsmouth: Preparing students for tomorrow’s world

The University of Portsmouth’s, Department of Employability were delighted to host the annual Employability and Enterprise Conference for academic staff with a focus on enterprise; “Preparing Our Students for Tomorrow’s World: Exploring the challenge of preparing our students for jobs that don’t yet exist where they will use technologies that have not yet been invented in order to solve problems which are not yet problems.” Keynote speaker, Christopher Howard, dazzled the audience providing insights into life as an entrepreneur and the importance of an enterprising mind-set based upon lessons learnt. Breakout sessions, led by staff and students, shared practical examples of embedding enterprise. For more information click here.

Northumbria: Top university for graduate start-ups

Northumbria University has been named as the UK’s top university for graduate business start-ups based on turnover, for a second year running. According to the latest report by the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) 2016/17, turnover from Northumbria graduate businesses has hit £80.3m – over £30m more than the second placed institution. The combined turnover for Northumbria graduate businesses also grew by more than £10m on the previous year.

Since 2009, Northumbria has supported the development of more than 200 graduate businesses, which currently employ over 1,000 and now have a combined annual turnover in excess of £80m. Click here for the full story.

Solent: Student creative agency provides real-world experience

Set in an agile creative space in the hub of the East Park Terrace campus and staffed by a team of practicing freelancers and business owners, Solent Creatives offers students a wide range of freelance and business start-up support. With a huge range of links with industry clients the agency provides students freelance work in a range of disciplines so that they can gain valuable experience whilst expanding their portfolio, and obtaining real-world experience. Founded in 2011, Solent Creatives has had over 3600 students sign up and offered over 2000 projects for over 1400 clients. Over 90% of the projects completed are paid, with all money going direct to the student freelancers. In the past 5 years Solent Creatives has helped students earn over £210,000. View the Solent Creatives showreel here.