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Leeds Enterprise Network

The Leeds Enterprise Network hosts regular events for enterprising students and early stage businesses.

Supporting new business growth in the region makes sense for all of us. It helps to create jobs and wealth in the region; it allows young adults to find jobs upon leaving school or University and helps to create our business clients of the future.

That’s why three of the learning providers in Leeds: Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds University and Leeds City College have joined forces to create the Leeds Enterprise Network. All three establishments are experienced in supporting graduates and fledgling entrepreneurs in starting up their businesses and felt that now more than ever it is important to give them the support they need.

Guest speakers will share their secrets to success and trading businesses have the opportunity to promote their services and products to potential clients through the business showcase.

To book a place please visit the Leeds Enterprise network website

Read about the most recent event

The Leeds Enterprise Network held its first networking event of 2012
Wednesday 22nd February saw the Leeds Enterprise Network hold another successful networking event. Many entrepreneurs and business people of Leeds came to Leeds Metropolitan University’s Rose Bowl to network with like-minded people and hear a guest presentation from Sarah Dunwell.

Sarah Dunwell is the founder of Create, an award winning social enterprise based in Leeds, which provides training and employment to marginalise and vulnerable people.

Sarah began by explaining why she wanted to start up a social enterprise, describing that she had worked for a charity, helping vulnerable people, for many years. Seeing them celebrate the fact that they had been helping one individual for years was disheartening for Sarah – she wanted to ‘wave them goodbye and get them into better things’. So, Create was born – ‘a business with the heart of a charity not a charity with the heart of a business’.

Their passion is to get vulnerable people into jobs. All profits go back into the business to help it grow. Sarah hopes to achieve a high street name in another three years and have Create in 20 cities within five years.

Sarah believes her greatest mistake was to aim low. She thought that ‘being a social business meant you had to serve the cheapest products’. Aspirations were low and this transferred onto her workforce. Eventually she realised they could aim higher and achieve high quality food and service. Create’s greatest strength is to publicise themselves but their weakness is the recruitment of the correct people. She explained that the waiting list is on-going and therefore, she needs to decide who needs their help the most and who will take most advantage from it.

Overall, Create is a way of using the transferable skills that a vulnerable person already has and incorporating them into work. They want to give them the first step on the job ladder and see them become successful.

Once Sarah had finished her presentation a question and answer session commenced, this showed how interested the delegates were in her enterprise. They asked many questions and listened intently to her answers. Sarah, intent on helping people, offered her contact details to the group so that individuals could meet with her and discuss their own projects.

Her presentation inspired many of the audience and so the networking resumed once the presentation came to a close.

The Leeds Enterprise Network, collaborating Business Start-Up at Leeds Metropolitan University, SPARK at the University of Leeds, QU2 and Inc Enterprise at Leeds City College hold successful networking events regularly throughout the year, including previous presentations from Daniel Rajkumar, Simon Darker, Gary Lumby and Carl Hopkins.

We also took the opportunity to congratulate and present the winners of our recent Business Concept Competition, Equilateral Media collected their trophy with the three other finalists; Plan-It Espen, Sky High Digital Capture and Leeds Art Map receiving certificates.

Blacks Solicitors kindly sponsored this event and exhibited along with other businesses including Showcase Management UK, Dynamic Service Solutions Ltd, Jam, Witshop, KG Creations, Two Birds One Stone and WGN Accountants.

The next Leeds Enterprise Network event will take place in May 2012 providing a great opportunity for businesses, new and old, to come together and promote business success in the region. To register now for free please go to www.leedsenterprisenetwork.com/