Entrepreneurship
The School of Management has a key focus on supporting and enabling entrepreneurs and their innovative ideas through a range of know-how, mentoring and resources.
Entrepreneurs in residence
Supporting the development of our future entrepreneurs, the School of Management welcomed 2 Entrepreneurs in Residence from its alumni community, with a view to increasing the number of residences and supporting entrepreneurial activities within the school. The role inspires and connects our students and academic staff in the faculty to embrace, practice and increase confidence in entrepreneurial activities and to help to identify opportunities to support staff and students.
Our Entrepreneurs inform the direction of key curriculum modules, mentor students and deliver inspirational talks and ‘Dragon’s Den’ style events. They also support our Innovation Hub which is a focus for entrepreneurs and small businesses on campus and virtually.
You can find our more about our Entrepreneurs in Residence below and you are welcome to engage with them, speak to them about how you think the School of Management can support business start-up or how you can get involved with the school?
If you are on an entrepreneurial journey and feel you and our student body would benefit from being in partnership with the School of Management as an Entrepreneur in Residence then we'd love to hear from you.
Entrepreneurship Festival
The inaugural Entrepreneurship Festival took place in June, 2022. The week long festival saw a range of guest speakers, visiting entrepreneurs and expert academics delivering sessions to over 30 students.
The festival allowed students to access an expert knowledge and skill set to begin the entrepreneurial journey. Supported by Rolls-Royce and NatWest the festival gave students a greater appreciation and understanding of the skills and capabilities of entrepreneurs including creativity, innovation and resilience.
From day 1 the festival was an interactive experience for students. Research tasks, envelope exercises and roundtable discussions took place day by day leading up to each days final activity - the business simulation led by Dr David Spicer.
Contribute to the student experience
If you're an entrepreneur and have experience of building your own business from the ground up then you may be able to assist in contributing to our students education.
Our School of Management students often have ambitions of starting their own business and getting into industries they care about. Your experiences and knowledge could assist them in making their dreams realities and taking that next step in their journey.
Whether you want to make yourself available for mentoring, future entrepreneurship festival activities or by becoming an entrepreneur in residence you have a range of options available to you to help contribute to the student experience.
Join our network
Register your interest to join in our entrepreneurial activities and support our student experience by emailing us.
Graduate Entrepreneurship Programme
The University of Bradford Start-up and Innovator Entrepreneur programmes provide a route for home or international applicants to live in Bradford and establish, or further develop, a successful start-up.
The two-year programme is open to anybody who has a business enterprise idea and wishes to be based in Bradford. Entrepreneurs from overseas receive support either to apply for an Innovator Founder visa, or to make the most of their post-study work visa to run a successful business. If the enterprise progresses then an entrepreneur can pursue further steps towards permanent residence to remain in Bradford.
Throughout the programme you will get comprehensive support, including a registered address, use of space and meeting rooms in the Entrepreneurship Lounge, training and mentoring, access to networks and access to fundraising opportunities.
Our goal is to support our city, local economy and the University through retaining and and attracting top entrepreneurial talent.
Accelerated Student Entrepreneurship Programme (ASEP)
The ASEP programme was launched in January, 2022 in a collaboration between the University of Bradford, Mercy Mission and National Zakat Foundation (NZF).
There are two programmes offered by the University. The first runs with Bradford-based home and international students whilst the second works closely with partnering organisations to offer a course to international students and Bradford-based home students. Each programme runs with 24 participants.
The programme is run in two sets of 4-5 day workshops. The first workshop focuses on introductions, generation and selection of enterprise ideas and the formation of founder teams, where appropriate. Following this workshop students receive support to develop and test their business plan.
The second workshop is an entrepreneurship ‘boot camp’. Over the course of the week, founder teams finalise prototypes, concepts and designs, develop a compelling presentation and promotional literature, and on the last day have the opportunity to a panel of real investors and benefactors for real money with which to grow their new enterprise, in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ session.
If you're interested in the programme then please email [email protected] or find out more about the ASEP programme.
New Dawn Partnership
The New Dawn partnership is a new collaboration between Mercy Mission, University of Bradford and the National Zakat Foundation. As a part of ASEP the partnership aims to support refugees and asylum seekers who have made Bradford their new home with a focus on helping them to make dreams reality kickstarting them off on entrepreneurial journeys.
The programme helps to provide mentoring to those involved in ASEP with New Dawn working with mentors including MyLahore, Regal Food Products PLC and Kunafa Tea. The mentors allow prospective entrepreneurs the chance to understand how others in the Bradford region were able to kickstart their businesses and become successful.
New Dawn epitomises what Bradford as a city is about, it’s a city of business, and a city of a culture that supports entrepreneurs, business start-ups and those that come to our city and are starting new lives while seeking refuge.
Naz Shah, Bradford West MP