Latest News

Student Entrepreneur Panel now open for registrations!

Self Employment: Funding, Freelance and Social Enterprise: Thursday 31st May 2012 (3 - 6PM @ University of East London, Knowledge Dock Room 116, Docklands Campus)

The panel includes Trudy Thompson, Founder of Bricks and Bread Sustainable Living Centres CIC, Kate Pierpoint, Social Enterprise Manager Manor House Development Trust The Redmond Community Centre and Vance Crawley Business Education and Support Team, HMRC.

Each pannelist will discuss their own entrepreneurial journies and you, the audience, will have the opportunity to ask your own questions. This will be followed by networking.

Please register here to attend: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ENTPANEL31MAY, any queries please contact Danielle Sheerin.

Special event for CEWE members! Thursday 28 June 2012, 8-10 am

Facebook and the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry invite you to attend a free breakfast briefing to help you get the most out of Facebook to promote and grow your business.

Facebook’s small business marketing and growth teams will show you how to build and maintain a page, engage fans and master advertising to reach new customers among Facebook’s 30m UK users.

TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

http://www.londonchamber.co.uk/lcc_public/article.asp?aid=62

http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/search/searchPerformanceDetails.asp?performance_id=39763

This will be held at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Head quarters – 33 Queen Street, London, Greater London EC4R 1AP

Natwest's Ambitions Bus - full lineup confirmed!

Thursday 8th March at Knowledge Dock, Docklands Campus - http://www.uel.ac.uk/campuses/docklands/ http://www.uel.ac.uk/campuses/docklands_map/

The event will run from 10 – 4 pm, however, please do feel free to pop in when convenient throughout the day.

Invitees will have access to free tailored business advice from a range of experts including;

On the Bus
Nick Howe & Marc Reacecoles from NatWest Business team to cover of general needs and signpost for other support including ad hoc sessions on whether you are suited to running your own business

Lizzie Barclay - NatWest Women in Business specialist to discuss with any interested delegates what events and contacts may be available to help and support them with their aspirations

Vance Crawley - HMRC - answer all manner of tax questions and also signpost any interested delegates to the series of free tax workshops that they run across London covering a multitude of stages in a business' life

UKTI - will also have a representative with a stand to support any business ideas where import and export may become involved

Knowledge Dock – Room KD 2.22
Robyn Scott and Hamish Forysth - Pitch Me - to run two sessions at 11 am and 12 pm to larger class sizes on the skill of pitching and how to perfect this valuable aspect whether you are presenting yourself or a product

Ian Broom - Launch 48 - to run a session at 1pm running through the Top 5 reasons for recent business failures

*You don’t need to book in to these, but please do bear the times in mind if you are only coming for part of the day.

Registrations:

UEL Students/Graduates/Staff – please complete https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NATWESTevent (please note this is open to men and women!)

CEWE members (non students/graduates) – please confirm by email (if you haven’t already)

We are really excited about seeing you all on International Women’s Day!

Take the ‘Ambitions Bus’ to business success!

NatWest has taken to the road with their ‘Ambitions Bus’, bringing free business advice to entrepreneurs looking to start their own company and existing SME owners. NatWest has worked closely with London enterprise agencies to understand and tailor free workshops sessions to their audience, and after a UK tour the bus is now coming to UEL. This free event is taking place on Thursday 8 March, 10am – 4pm, at Knowledge Dock on Docklands Campus, and is open to all staff students and graduates looking for advice, development and networking opportunities. Advisors now include representatives from; HMRC, UKTI, Natwest (including Natwest 'Women in Business') and Picthme! The event is open to all so email cewe@uel.ac.uk with any queries and see you on the day!

If you are you a working mum you need to be at this event!

CEWE are proud to be sponsoring the 'Business Planning Seminar' at the Working Mums upcoming Live event on 27th March 2012 at the Business Design Centre, Islington. The event is completely free so regsiter here today!

Last year, at London LIVE, Working Mums had over 1400 visitors through the door. The focus is for parents and their decisions about returning to work, finding alternative careers that offer a work-life balance, starting their own business or becoming a franchisee. The event will cover the complete range of services offered online split into individual “zones” including:

• Jobs and Recruitment, Business and Franchising, Self-employment, Advice and support

The event will also host various interactive seminar sessions that run throughout the day. This year, there will be several interactive conference sessions at London LIVE 2012 with speakers advising on the following topics:

• Returning to Work, CV Tips, Flexible Working – how to make it work;

• Working for yourself – practical steps and options, Setting up your own Business - Business Planning and Setting up your own Business – Social Marketing and PR

To find out more about the event, please see here or get in touch with cewe@uel.ac.uk.

Working in the Creative Industries - What are the pros and cons of these different ways of working?

Come to UEL's " Creative Career Master Class No.1- Models of Living" organised by FabPad, you will hear from a diverse chaired panel from the creative industries discuss and debate their own ways of working and the resulting implications their work has on the way they live.

New Partnerships...working together for you!

CEWE are delighted to be working in partnership with WeConnect to create new opportunities for women-led businesses to access supply chains and achieve their growth potential. CEWE brings together women entrepreneurs to share their challenges and successes, through networking events, seminars and mentoring. CEWE already work closely with our partners to signpost women to the most appropriate source of support and facilitate opportunities for ongoing collaboration. By working with WeConnect, we hope to continue to build the case for investment in women's businesses...

Those who attended our recent CEWE seminar will have heard Louisa Moger's (of WeConnect) own pearls of wisdom on the art of decision making. Louisa also kindly provided an opportunity for women entreprenuers to self register, for free, with Weconnect, please see the link here.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with us!

First Student and Graduate Panel Event of 2012!

CEWE are now looking forward to hosting the next student facing entrepreneur panel on Wednesday 15 February at Knowledge Dock, Docklands Campus. Students and Graduates will have the unique opportunity to hear from and pose questions to experts in the fields of Health, Sciences and Psychology.

The panel includes, Uzma Durrani from Psylutions Ltd, Jim Shaikh from Yoomi Bottles and Cathy Underwood from Yoga4Mums.

First CEWE Seminar of 2012!

A big thank you to Barclays Wealth for hosting our first CEWE seminar of 2012! Louisa Moger and Amanda Wilson delivered fantastic presentations on the art of decision making - food for thought for all attendees! We continued the great conversations over networking - the views on the 30th floor were incredibly inspiring, take a look for yourself! As always, we value your feedback and comments - if you have any, please let us know.

Happy New Year! The first CEWE Seminar of 2012 is now open for registration!

New Year, New You? The Art of Decision Making - Thursday 2nd February 2012 6 - 8pm

Barclays Wealth, 1 Churchill Place, London

This event will be themed around identifying and perfecting the art of decision making when taking into account the many different hats a women entrepreneur must wear. As well as hearing from our speakers, you’ll get a chance to share your own experiences and network with entrepreneurs and their supporters.

Invites will be sent to our CEWE members next week, but more for more information on the event please click here. To register for this event or to become part of the CEWE network please email cewe@uel.ac.uk

For further details of our 2012 CEWE events - click here... Happy New Networking!

CEWE Conference - Registration now open!

CEWE Conference - Thursday 17th November 2011 9am to 4.30pm followed by networking

Honourable Artillery Company, Moorgate

Registration is now open for the CEWE Conference which takes place on Thursday 17th November 2011 at the Honourable Artillery Company, Moorgate. Email CEWE for more information

Cath Kidston imparts her pearls of entrepreneurial wisdom at CEWE event

As part of UEL’s commitment to support women's entrepreneurship, the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Entrepreneurship recently sponsored the London Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Networking Lunch.

Around 75 guests attended last week’s event, which saw leading designer and retailer Cath Kidston (pictured) share her top tips for succeeding in business, during a Q&A session with the audience. As well as remaining Creative Director of Cath Kidston Ltd, Cath was awarded an MBE for services to business in February 2010 as part of the Queen’s New Year Honours List.

CEWE Event is on the money

On 16th June 2011, CEWE held it's second CEWE Seminar The Challenge of Starting Up. The event focused in on the challenges and barriers faced by women entrepreneurs starting up in business. In a rousing presentation that left the audience in no doubt about the importance of prudent financial management, Deborah Morton-Dare, from Faculty-One Business Training said: “Making a profit isn’t enough; managing the cash flow properly is essential. Managing the cash rigorously will make the difference in determining whether or not your business survives.”

We are delighted to be able to offer CEWE members a 25% discount on all courses booked through www.faculty-one.com or by emailing info@faculty-one.com – please use the discount code CEWE25.

The five courses below may be of most interest to CEWE members are:

Understanding Accounts & Financial Awareness – 13 July & 30 November
Basics of Credit Control - 24 June & 31 October
Accounting Fundamentals - 28/29 September & 8/9 December
VAT Essentials - 15 July, 21 September & 8 December
Essentials of Corporation Tax - 14 July, 13 October & 5 December

The next CEWE seminar Growing Pains will be taking place on the evening of Thursday 22nd September. We hope to see you there!

Lisa Newton from Boogles Ltd shares her experiences with UEL students

Award winning entrepreneur, Lisa Newton from Boogles Ltd joined CEWE in May to talk to an enthusiastic audience made up of female UEL students and graduates to talk about her experiences in setting up a business, and to pass on some pearls of wisdom. Her honest, yet encouraging advice was welcomed by the audience who found the session very motivating. One graduate commented “I thought the session was inspiring, helpful and a really productive use of my time. Attending has really given me a boost in self-confidence that I can set up a business on my own”. The event was organised by the Employability and Enterprise Team at UEL in conjunction with CEWE, and is part of a series of events and services aimed at aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to help them achieve their goals. For more information on future events see www.uel.ac.uk/eet

Support Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs – Become a CEWE Patron

Would you be willing to share your experiences with a woman entrepreneur who is at the start of her entrepreneurial journey? Could you support an entrepreneur to make the contacts she needs to support the growth of her business? Could you be a motivational role model to an aspiring entrepreneur? If so, why not apply to be one of the first CEWE Patrons?

We are looking for individuals who are willing to share their experiences of setting up, growing and making a success of their business with UEL’s aspiring women entrepreneurs. We envisage that you will meet with the student/graduate twice a month for at least of 4 months and that you will support them on their entrepreneurial journey in a variety of ways. This may include:

Providing support to female UEL students and graduates to develop their entrepreneurial skills
Providing support to female UEL students to start up their own businesses
Acting as a role model, sharing the lessons you have learnt and experiences you have gained
Helping them to access networks of successful business owners and professionals

If you are interested in being a CEWE Patrons, please complete the information requested at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CFKX7YL
For further information please email cewepatrons@uel.ac.uk

The Step from Employment to Self-Employment

We were delighted to welcome over 60 guests to Heron Quays for the first CEWE seminar of 2011 From Employment to Self-Employment.

The first CEWE Seminar, ‘The Step from Employment to Self-Employment’ took place on Tuesday 29th March and focused on the challenges women entrepreneurs face when moving from employment to self-employment and advancing in the workplace. For more information about the event see http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/press_releases/CEWEevent.htm.

Click here for further information on Start Up Britain

Become a Friend of Women’s Entrepreneurship

UEL is looking to secure pledges of support for future activity through the Friends of Women’s Entrepreneurship initiative. We are responding to the needs of our students and the local community in bringing together existing networks and support services into an online portal where women can receive the advice they need to grow their business. We will be creating opportunities for women to benefit from the lessons learnt through mentoring, networking opportunities and access to expertise. If you would like to pledge your support and learn more about UEL’s work in this area please contact Project Manager, Linsey Cole: l.cole@uel.ac.uk