University of Salford

The University of Salford has a history of creating and sustaining an enterprise culture for students and staff that goes back to the launch of the Enterprise in Higher Education (EHE) initiative in 1987.  We work closely in collaboration with industry to provide the best opportunities for our students to develop their enterprising mind-set. This is perfectly embodied in our University’s vision:  “By pioneering exceptional industry partnerships we will lead the way in real world experiences preparing students for life.”

The Enterprise team, based within Careers and Employability service, supports student and graduate entrepreneurship through wide-ranging business start-up support, ranging from in-curricula modules to co-curricular activities such as Enterprise Masterclasses, Skill Up 4 Future Business training events, business mentoring, seed funding and student enterprise societies including Enactus. This comprehensive offering is available to our graduates for life and the team has recently been awarded the AGCAS Award for Entrepreneurship 2016 in recognition of our cross collaborative approach with industry, academic staff and student societies.

Our support is embedded within the Student Experience and Support directorate and a key element of the University’s strategy to enhance the student experience.  We work in collaboration with academic staff across the individual schools, to embed enterprise teaching into subject specific modules. This innovative approach enables us to enhance the entrepreneurial skills & attributes of our students and graduates, ensuring they move into fulfilling graduate entry positions in a wide range of industries or set up their own business or social enterprise.

As a result of the University’s commitment to supporting enterprising students, and through our partnership with Santander Universities, we provide small amounts of seed funding through our Start-Up and Make the Difference Awards. The pioneering nature of our approach to these awards has not gone unnoticed by our partners or Santander. Santander describe Salford as “a leading university in their innovative approach regarding their base model.” Over the 4 years of this partnership, we have been able to offer start-up funding support to over 100 students and graduates, through the cash awards and facilitation of bi-annual pitching events.

Passionate about providing our students with the best opportunities for development, we have devised bi-annual business competitions, where our students get to pitch their ideas to successful entrepreneurs in order to secure investment capital. As a result, one of the winners, Lavinia Goddard of Vinejuice, secured investment and mentoring from our investors, leading her to run a successful radio show with her business partner, to recently filming a twelve part series- The Juicy Ladies Show, for TBN- the largest Christian television network in the world.

In May 2017, we partnered with University Alliance and 5 investors for the Innovating Future Business Competition 2017, which hosted some of the best young entrepreneurs from across the country at MediaCityUK, to pitch their business ideas, at this Dragons’ Den style competition.

We are also the co-founders of the annual NW Enterprise Futures conference-one of the biggest student enterprise conferences in the North West of England, which we run every May in partnership with the Universities of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan.

Contact us: enterprise@salford.ac.uk