Graduate Entrepreneurship Boosts Economy

The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) newly formed University Enterprise Network is on target to create 204 new businesses.

NCGE was set up in 2004 to cultivate entrepreneurship in higher education. It does this by helping graduates to start a business through a number of programmes and by helping universities embed entrepreneurship.

The NCGE recently announced the results of extensive independent evaluation into the impact of its programmes. The programme is currently mentoring and supporting 3,550 graduate businesses and the evaluators estimated that 71% of these graduates either wouldn’t be starting a business or have started the process earlier than anticipated.

Ninety universities are now benefiting from the NCGE and support from the private sector has reached over £2M. The NCGE Board includes Barclays Bank, BAe Systems and Microsoft, with HSBC supporting the delivery of the Flying Start and Make it Happen programmes.

Ian Robertson, CEO of NCGE says “I’m absolutely delighted to be able to demonstrate our impact in such a tangible way. Over 80% of new, growth companies are set up by graduates.

“At this critical time for our economy we need to improve the environment for wealth creation and build a closer, more productive relationship between business and universities. This evaluation shows the critical role that NCGE plays in achieving both those objectives.”

Claire Hookham Williams, Enterprise Champion at the University of Liverpool explains the difference NCGE had made: “We’ve been involved in a number programmes that NCGE have organised including Flying Start, the International Entrepreneurship Educators Programme and the HE Enterprise Champions Project in the North West Region.

“Teaching entrepreneurship needs to be interactive and the funding that we received has enabled us to purchase new interactive teaching tools, organise special three-day events and create business societies for the students.

“It has also helped us to build contacts with other universities so that we can exchange ideas and give each other advice. The staff and students have loved all the programmes we’ve introduced and it’s helped to drive through an entrepreneurial spirit throughout the university.”

Jonathan Lloyd started Falling Pixel while studying at Portsmouth University in 2006. Since launching, his turnover has doubled each year and he is hoping to do the same again this year. He explains the difference that NCGE made to him, “I first found out about NCGE’s Flying Start Programme when I went along to a rally they were organising in Reading.

“There I got some fantastic start up advice and help on developing a business plan to help get me going. After I received a £1,000 grant to start up my business I went to America for six months as part of the NCGE-Kauffman Flying Start Global Fellowship.”

Before doing a three month internship at a leading post-production company in Kansas, Jonathan visited Harvard and Stamford Universities but he says the highlight was meeting the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt.

Lloyd comments, “Seeing one of the most influential, important guys of our time giving us a lecture on the pitfalls of starting up a business was surreal, but an experience I’ll never forget. When I came back from America I was so inspired and the Flying Start Programme gave me so much more confidence that I wouldn’t have had before.”

David Frost of the British Chambers of Commerce commented, “The impact figures and testimonials from graduates and universities speak for themselves - NCGE is a real success story.”