University of East London Homepage

StartUp Britain bus to drive student entrepreneurs into business

Monday 22 October 2012

StartUp Britain

The StartUp Britain bus tour will make a special visit to UEL this Wednesday as part of its whistle -stop tour of UK universities and further education colleges.

According to a recent report, students at UEL are part of the generation most likely to consider setting up a business. This generation, which grew up over the millennium, was found to have an ‘unprecedented entrepreneurial spirit’ with almost one-third of those aged 20 to 29-years-old wanting to start their own business, said the report from the RSA charity in partnership with the National Centre for Social Research.

In separate analysis commissioned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the number of this age group in the process of setting up their own companies has risen by 50% in the last year alone.

On Wednesday at 2.30pm, a double-decker bus, organised by national enterprise campaign, StartUp Britain, will help to mobilise the enterprise potential of this generation by taking a team of entrepreneurs, business authors and experts to visit students at UEL’s Docklands Campus.

The idea behind the visit is to show UEL students how to get access to the support, guidance and funding that exists, pointing them towards specialist mentors and giving them the chance to speak to already-successful entrepreneurs.

Selena Bolingbroke, UEL Pro Vice-Chancellor, said: “We just can’t emphasise enough how important the start-up message is to this generation.  These young people are well-aware of the problems they face when it comes to finding employment, but at the same time they are hungry to find their way in the world.

“Their grasp of the power of technology means they are not short of start-up ideas, and it is initiatives like the StartUp Britain bus tour that will help them join all the dots together to potentially recognise they can make it happen.”

StartUp Britain co-founder, Emma Jones, said: “We are seeing more and more young people setting up businesses.  Research has shown eight out of ten young people think about setting up a business these days as a career path, or a way to turn a hobby into a money-spinning idea.

“Reports suggest this boom in entrepreneurialism is down to the millennial generation grasping both the power of modern technology and the internet. These young people represent part of the future of business and our economic prosperity - that’s why it’s so important to offer them support by delivering the message that they can set up a business, there is support out there for them – and that we’ll be with them every step of the way, cheering loudly!”

Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s Enterprise Adviser said: “Many young people have the drive and ambition to create a business, yet don’t know how to put this into action. The StartUp Britain bus tour will do much to connect many of them to the support they need as well as help them sign up for a StartUp Loan. In doing so, it will help to transform the enterprise potential of a new generation.”

The visit is part of a UK bus tour, which will take in 40 universities and further education colleges across the UK. It will also deliver information and application details to the 10,000 young people it hopes to meet about the £82m StartUp Loans scheme for people aged 18 to 24, announced earlier this year. There will be an opportunity to apply for the loan on board the bus and everyone will receive a free StartUp Loans Kit with a guide on how to start a business and over £200 of StartUp offers.

To find out more information, visit www.startuptour.co

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information