Future entrepreneurs gain insight into starting a business

How a four-day Entrepreneurs Boot Camp got students thinking seriously about working for themselves.

Instead of worrying about who they’d be working for when they graduated, 40 students across Yorkshire & Humber decided that what they’d really like to do was work for themselves.

As Alex McWhirter, assistant director of enterprise at Yorkshire Forward explained: “Whilst there is no doubt the jobs market is tough at the moment, it is fantastic to see students from the region taking matters into their own hands and turning their business idea into reality.”

Funded by Yorkshire Forward, the Entrepreneurs Boot Camp took place in Beverley to give would-be entrepreneurs an insight into starting up a business. It included students from the universities of Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Hull; Leeds Metropolitan University; Sheffield Hallam University; and Leeds College of Music.

Key learnings for the students

The students were given a crash course in the demands of self-employment. Workshops and seminars covered financial planning, tax issues, marketing and networking. Sessions were hosted by professional support advisors such as Business Link Yorkshire and HM Revenue and Customs. Former boot camp students like Allison Whitmarsh were also present.

A boot camp alumna

Allison Whitmarsh set up her company, ProperMaid Ltd, after attending the Entrepreneurs Boot Camp in 2008 and after graduating from the University of Huddersfield. ProperMaid produces, as she puts it, “homemade baking with a twist”.

Assistance from the Huddersfield Loan Fund and Business Link Yorkshire helped to get her started. Now ProperMaid has progressed from farmers’ markets and food festivals to Booths Supermarkets. And is currently in discussion with both Asda and Morrisons.

Graduate Enterprise Programme

The Entrepreneurs Boot Camp is part of Yorkshire Forward’s Graduate Enterprise Programme, which is delivered by the University of Huddersfield to encourage students across the region to start up their own business.  The programme takes place in 11 of the region’s universities and covers a range of topics that students can study in addition to their degree programme. This is an expansion of a similar scheme that ran for three years in West Yorkshire. In that time, no fewer than 173 new businesses were created.