Creating, growing, and sustaining start-up businesses

The Careers and Employability Department, through the Start-up and Entrepreneurship Team, supports students and recent graduates in creating, growing, and sustaining start-up businesses. The Team plays a crucial role in enhancing entrepreneurship skills and graduate employability, with a focus on industry expert delivery and real-world application.

One of the Team’s most impactful interventions is the 10-week Design Your Future programme. This programme offers participants workshops, specialist advice, and financial support to help move innovative projects forward. In 2023, 227 students and recent graduates participated in the programme to gain enterprise skills and begin their entrepreneurial journey.

The programme culminates in the ‘Design Your Future Pitching Competition’, where participants submit pre-recorded pitches for review. Nine finalists were shortlisted and invited to pitch live, with £10,000 awarded to the successful finalist, giving them the resources to kickstart their business concept.

The Start-up & Entrepreneurship team also provided financial support via the Enterprise Fund, which supports successful University of Liverpool students and graduates in developing early-stage business ideas. In 2023, over £55,000 was allocated from the Enterprise Fund, directly supporting 28 student and graduate start-ups.

Peer support also plays a critical role in building the networks, skills, and confidence to move into a commercial environment. Students & graduates have access to the Green Room, an online community for entrepreneurial individuals, which has grown to a membership of almost 500 members. The Green Room is used for networking, sharing opportunities, and creating connections that can lead to new collaborative projects.

Alongside this online resource, face-to-face Enterprise Monthly Meetups took place in 2023, hosted by Brett Centre. Featuring guest speakers and covering diverse themes, these events attracted over 540 attendees during the year.

These initiatives highlight the University’s commitment to nurturing entrepreneurship and supporting students and graduates in beginning their enterprise journeys. They are helping to create a culture across the institution that foregrounds the opportunities to develop and commercialise ground-breaking new ideas.

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