Make Your Mark Blog

What a fantastic visit to Tynedale and their enterprise network last week! An excellent example of how a deprived rural community can be transformed through enterprise. The people were so united, involved and supportive of network and the wide range of enterprise initiatives in the community.

The community brought together through a shared entrepreneurial spirit, overcoming the barriers of a population dispersed over a large geographical area and considerable deprivation (worsened still by Foot and Mouth a few years ago).

The enterprise education in schools was particularly impressive with some very dynamic head teachers working very closely together for mutual benefit and innovative ways of involving businesses in schools and exposing young people to business people and enterprising environments.

The highlight at the end of the day was a visit to a nursery that had been set up by a group of young local entrepreneurs. Jamie Murray Wells (Founder, Glassesdirect and the national judge on the visit) was asked to open the new nursery garden and new water feature for the children to play with… the group of 2yr olds playing in the garden then promptly soaked him in water from head to toe!

Are you a business person based in the North East? Would you like to help inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs?

Make Your Mark Enterprise Clubs are:

A dynamic network of student-led enterprise clubs, currently over 300 nationally, 35 of which are in the North East

Open to students in schools & colleges and are completely free

A great route into schools for employers and a great way to raise your own profile in TV and get positive PR

What the Make Your Mark Enterprise Clubs need from employers:

Real enterprise challenges from you e.g. design challenges or real business problems

Opportunities to talk to you and to learn from your business experiences & expertise

Support and guidance in planning their own business ventures

For you to inspire them about what is possible for them in their future

What’s in it for you?

A chance to

Work with young agile creative minds

Help develop the necessary skills in your future workforce

Raise the profile of your business

Generate lots of positive PR

Offer your staff self development opportunities

Market test some of your products with your potential customers

and …… an opportunity for you to be inspired by our young people!

If you would like to get involved, please contact Julie:

Julie@makeyourmark.org.uk / 01642 451826

As we turn the corner of a new era, we need new people to help us continue with our enterprise message - As the new HR manager I am excited to have some great opportunities available to continue the enterprise message through our people. We are looking for people ready for new challenges and passionate about what we do - whether you are a self confessed enterprise junkie or want to embark on an amazing new journey you might just be in with a chance - so who’s in?

Vanessa

Enterprise Junkie - and - Make Your Mark HR Manager

Do you help young people to Shine? Then don’t miss out! Schools and organisations working with young people are invited to join Shine - the first national celebration of all talent in all young people in England. Showcase young people’s talents during Shine week from 30 June – 4 July and build your year-round online wall of talent. Join in online now at www.shineweek.co.uk and receive a FREE Creative Kit to help your events and young people Shine.

Why not showcase your existing work with young people on the Shine website by uploading photos of a performance or exhibition? Or you could plan a week bursting with activity: it’s up to you!

See www.shineweek.co.uk or contact us at info@shineweek.co.uk to find out more!

• Gone With The Wind
• Top price tickets (usually £50 or £60)
• ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!
• Saturday 12th April MATINEE at 2:30pm
• ONLY £25

Fiddle-dee-dee, those fabulous folk at Hit The Theatre are offering an exclusive discount to see Sir Trevor Nunn’s landmark new musical Gone With The Wind. Not only will you be sitting in the very best seats in the building, but you will be paying only a fraction of the normal ticket price!

The show stars Darius Danesh and Jill Paice, and brings together the creative team behind smash hits such as Les Miserables, Cats, Starlight Express and many others.

This one-off event is sure to be a huge success. Secure your tickets today by visiting www.hitthetheatre.co.uk/gwtw

What’s more, if you have a group of 6 or more students wanting to come to the show for this performance, call 0207 1939050 for more special offers!

Frankly, you WILL give a damn… (see what I did there)

A speaker event on how to be a great entrepreneur in the workplace!

Wednesday 9th April 6 - 8.30pm at the British Library Conference Centre

• Are you creative, enterprising and innovative in the workplace?
• Are you bursting with ideas on how your company could innovate it’s internal systems or external services?
• Do you know how to manage this energy and present ideas effectively to management, generate buy-in and successfully thrive within the workplace?

How can companies effectively nurture this type of environment to encourage innovation greater knowledge exchange and improved recruitment, retention, development and deployment?

This event is for professionals who desire to be entrepreneurial in the workplace and wish to know how to present and develop their ideas effectively to management?

PLUS HR/Learning and Development teams who are keen to enable an entrepreneurial culture within their company.

A panel of speakers have harnessed this creative potential:

Claire Purchase from Freshminds
After graduating from the University of Manchester with a first class Economics degree, Claire brought her creativity and energy to FreshMinds Talent. She is known by her colleagues as incredibly innovative and is the key contributor to the “Ideas Surgery” that the FreshMinds CEOs hold each month.

Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA,McCann Worldgroup
Justin has extensive expertise in leading teams across multiple European countries, innovating creative management solutions and processes. As an internal entrepreneur, Justin also adds value to the operation of the overall agency.

Ashley Sweetland, Director of Youth Strategy, Corporate Culture Ltd
Ashley, 24, leads Corporate Culture’s focus on children, young people and education. Prior to joining Corporate Culture he has worked for The National Youth Agency and the Department for Education and Skills.

Find out more and register here http://www.stridingout.co.uk/networking-events-london.php

The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion is an Award designed to celebrate and recognise the activities of individuals who have played an outstanding and significant role in promoting enterprise skills and attitudes in others in the UK.They are looking for:

• Entrepreneurs, businessmen and women, inventors and innovators who give their time and, possibly financial support, to other potential entrepreneurs whether or not they are still in education or at the business start-up/growth stage.
• Those in education, training and youth work who are providing people of all ages, particularly the young, with enterprise skills and attitudes.
• Those involved in social enterprise who achieve business outcomes or equip others with business skills

For more info see www.queensawards.org.uk/individual

Make Your Mark ambassador and TV presenter June Sarpong is giving young people the chance to claim a share of £1 million to help tackle the dangers of drugs and crime, and play a positive role in their community.

The 18-month Prince’s Trust initiative will see June and Davina McCall host a series of heated debates where young people are empowered to give their opinions on issues that matter to them.

The Government’s new 10-year youth strategy boasts a youth club in every neighbourhood, improved facilities, coming of age ceremonies, a recognised Youth Week and a National Institute of Youth Leadership. But only 27% of people in the UK think that young people play a positive role in their community in Britain today.

With the Government stating that young people will decide where a quarter of a local authority budget will be spent, the debates create an open forum where young people can air their opinions and for Government to take note.

The web video sees 20 outspoken young people airing their grievances with June and Davina about some of the daily problems they face in modern day Britain.

Watch video

Read June Sarpong’s ‘inspiring story’

i just read an article by stephen tyler in the telegraph on dyslexic entrepreneurs.  tyler argues that dyslexic entrepreneurs are more likely to take risks than non-dyslexic entrepreneurs because - get this - they simply don’t understand figures.

i think the argument is twaddle for a couple reasons: 

1- “julie logan, professor of entrepreneurship, said: “we measured propensity for risk taking and it was absolutely the same [for dyslexic entrepreneurs] as non-dyslexic entrepreneurs…”

2- while it’s true that “existing academic studies show that UK entrepreneurs are twice as likely to suffer dyslexia than an average person” tyler does not present any evidence to suggest that this is because they don’t understand numbers.  a stronger desire to prove one’s self and to prove naysayers wrong, and a greater determination to overcome obstacles seem like more reasonable explanations.  furthermore, a detachment from the education system and other modes of ’institutional thinking’ could be an additional reason why dyslexics are more prone to innovation and risk-taking.

i’m no expert on dyslexia but tyler’s argument seems totally bogus.  any other opinions?  i do have to say, though, that i didn’t know that entrepreneurs were that much more likely to be dyslexic - very interesting indeed.

chris spavin

Perhaps when you think of a creative cluster Croydon is not the first place that
springs to mind - but times are definitely changing! Last night I attended the launch of Croydon’s Milk and Honey network - a network to develop, encourage and inspire creativity in Croydon. Milk and Honey is an initiative set up to celebrate the creative talents of London’s biggest borough.

The network is the brainchild of Kat Thorley who saw the need for a space for young people in Croydon to get together and showcase their creative talent and to use locally established artists to inspire the next generation.

Singers, painters, photographers and jewellery designers were among the creatives showcasing at the event which left me with no doubt that there is certainly creative talent in Croydon. At the event I was chatting to Leanne who is a recording artist. She was delighted to lend her support to the new network and from her own experience, networks such as this one are really valuable for helping people turn their creative passions into a career.

I really hope this group goes from strength to strength - hey, maybe Croydon can become the new Barcelona?!

My Mum is a Deputy Headteacher at a special school for children with cerebral palsy in West Sussex - Ingfield Manor. About a month ago during our planning for Enterprise Week, it was suggested that I get the school involved in an event during the week. We came up with an activity within our sector - manufacturing & engineering - called ‘Making it Better’. The activity involved redesigning and developing existing products and ‘making them better’ to suit the children’s individual needs. The children involved in the event were aged 6-12.

I have to say that I was overwhelmed by the success of the activity yesterday and I was completely taken aback by the productiveness of the children. The winning ideas were a flexible, adaptable, lightweight mirror with handles and two different bases to fit on the equipment that the children already use. And a piece of equipment which will enable the children to put tops (clothing) on almost independently. The model has a frame which a t-shirt/jumper can be stretched over which is then raised above the head and brought down onto the body.

The day was a complete success and proved that children of any age and ability can be Enterprising!

Pictures and short film to follow!

Becca (Make your Mark in Manufacturing & Engineering)

What an inspiring event! Established young entrepreneurs such as Jamie Murray Wells turned up to see the cream of young entrepreneurial talent at the awards in the Hyatt hotel.

Inventions such as chocolate boxes to cover chocolate – Louis Barnett, Choclit - (which caught my greedy imagination) as well as more socially-conscious businesses such as Nathaniel Peat’s The Safety Box, which confronts violence in schools by teaching personal safety and martial arts as well as conflict resolution were original ideas that were also commercially successful. I imagine that everyone that attended the event left with a resurged determination to push forward their own business and make their ideas into a reality.

The prizes were given out by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, and Gordon Brown PM crashed the event at the end. He attended last year as Chancellor, and was clearly unable to keep away from such an inspiring event!

See more about the amazing people and their ideas on http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/get_involved/enterprising_young_brits/2007_finalists

Put entrepreneurship centre stage in every sense of the word. That was the heartfelt plea from around 50 young business people, budding entrepreneurs and students who met the enterprise minister Stephen Timms at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in London yesterday.

It was a great meeting. We split up into 8 groups and brainstormed about what could be done to help foster the right conditions for young people to start a business and enable them to grow. My group of young entrepreneurs talked about putting entrepreneurship centre stage and addressing some of the issues with the following ideas:

• If you walk into careers service libraries across the country you will find there is little shelfspace on starting a business. Careers advisers should also be encouraged more to provide advice and guidance on entrepenuership.
• Most young people have little idea what it means to run a business (margins, cash flow, stock control, marketing strategy). Get young people to work for start-ups and small businesses to learn about how enterprise works; the government could support or incentivise interns on an enternship scheme.
• University funding is based on various criteria unrelated to stimulating entrepreneurship. Link funding to generating more start-ups!
• RDA funding criteria for innovative ideas do not appear to recognise new software applications. They don’t fit in the category ‘innovation’! If we want Britian to produce the next generation of ‘Facebook’ type developers we have to make it easier for them to receive funding for expensive product development.
• UK companies wanting to expand overseas sometimes get put off by lack of knowledge about the legal and cultural barriers; the government could create a one stop shop here or virtually to provide entrepreneurs with business and social-cultural advice and also a mini-incubation unit abroad, to dip your toe in the water.

The session was put on by Make Your Mark (www.makeyourmark.org.uk) to help provide the government with more views from young people on a range of topics from starting a business to getting support for business growth. The views are being collated by the department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (www.berr.gov.uk), as it writes the government’s new Enterprise Strategy, due out in the Spring.

If you are an entrepreneur and have any additional views on this you can log on to www.buildinganewenterprise.co.uk.

Dirk

…into Science, Engineering Technology Careers (SET)…. Sorry if you were hoping this post was about dating…!
Yesterday I attended a conference about how to get more women into SET careers - not something I knew anything about previously but I now feel I am a bit of an expert (and considering a possible career change!) I met lots of interesting people and heard from a really inspirational woman - Maggie Aderin - who works in Physics, has appeared on numerous TV shows and set up her own company (Science Innovations Ltd) and whose ambition is to set Big Brother on Mars (eviction would mean living out the rest of your days on Mars!).

To find out more, visit: www.setwomenresource.org.uk

Future Face of Enterprise

What do you think the future face of enterprise will look like? What are the possiblities, opportunities and trends that will shape enterprise? Please join the debate and let us know what you think in 300 words and email them to policy@makeyourmark.org.uk along with your name, job title, organisation, and picture.

Popping into the start of the future face of enterprise conference, you could be forgiven for thinking that the future face of enterprise is a forty-year old Caucasian. Commentators on business are usually very well-educated and insightful, but do conform to stereotype. The first panel (Jonathan Guthrie – Enterprise Editor, Financial Times, Ben Verwaayen and Rt Hon John Hutton MP, Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) pleased the audience with their witty panel discussion and answered questions well, from an audience with much more variation in appearance.

However, the panel of entrepreneurs soon put a stop to a complaint about lack of diversity. Dominated by women, with only two male ministers present, the image of the future face of enterprise was young, vibrant and an ethnic mixture. The second panel (Lucy Neville-Rolfe - Tesco plc, Joanna Shields - Bebo, Phil Hope - MP, Stephen Timms - MP, Maive Rute - European Commission, Julie Meyer - Ariadne capital, Farzana Baduel - TaxClaim) held a show-stopping discussion with the audience, and all gave their views on a variety of questions from recommendations for enterprise education to a discussion on why British women don’t set up businesses at the same rate as British men.