News and Blog Articles

John Parker is the CEO of The Academy of Leadership and Management based in Ayrshire in Scotland. Working alongside his wife, Janet, this husband and wife team are at the heart of the Academy, which gained its IOEE accreditation last year. We interviewed John for the very first issue of Think Enterprise, and this month […]

On the 17th May, Ruth Lowbridge MBE and SFEDI Executive Chair attended the SME Advisory Board meeting at The Westminster Conference Centre in London. Lead by British politician and entrepreneur, Margot James, the board is made up of only 12 SME industry experts, and as the only awarding and standard-setting body from the UK to […]

Q&A with GConsultancy Innovation’s CEO, Dr.Julia Goga-Cooke. Julia Goga-Cooke is the powerhouse behind GConsultancy Innovation; an Academy of Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship, based in the heart of London. GConsultancy Innovation believes that ‘innovators are not born – they are made’, and describes itself as ‘an ecosystem of design thinkers who can give you the mindset, knowledge […]

Things are hotting up in my journey towards becoming my own boss. I’ve been to view the office space that is part of an incubation centre near to where we live. It’s ‘cosy’ but I don’t really need that much space as I’ll only be using it to prepare my training packs and make my […]

Fathi Mehdi’s journey in enterprise and education is truly inspirational. He arrived in the UK as a refugee only a couple of years ago, and he found himself homeless, speaking very little English, and being uncertain of how to get a job – least of all embarking upon a long-term career. However, despite these enormous […]

I’m pretty sure that everyone reading this will be able to associate with at least some of the pains that working for others in a stereotypical “traditional” business often presents. I’m talking about all the things like the daily commute chaos, being stuck in traffic on the motorway or trying to get a seat on […]

Jane Baines is the Woo ‘B’ Woo Fairy; sprinkling her own unique brand of fairy dust through her self-starting company and bespoke service of vintage-style wedding décor and fresh floral arrangements. Jane worked in the fashion industry for almost three decades before she decided to follow her passion and ‘go it alone’. Through the IOEE, […]

Alex Till is the CEO of MENTA; an organisation that delivers services to new, emerging and growing businesses in Suffolk. This month we spoke to Alex to find out more about the support and services that MENTA offers, the advice he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs, and what it means to MENTA to have recently secured […]

WRITTEN BY RICHARD GIBSON HEAD OF COMMUNICATION, CROSSCOUNTRY Love them or hate them, either for speed, comfort or just not being stuck in a traffic jam, we have probably all used the railways at some point. And with more people using them every year, the level of investment being made in Britain’s railways is staggering […]

The IOEE is delighted to offer its most sincere congratulations to IOEE Honorary Fellow John Timpson, who has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. John is the chairman of the cobbler and key repair company that bears his Timpson family name, though his knighthood is also in recognition for his fostering […]

Jackie Jenks is an IOEE Ambassador and the CEO of Leapfrog Mountain; a mentoring and enterprise academy that supports mentors, business leaders and entrepreneurs. Leapfrog Mountain secured its status as an IOEE Academy in May 2016, and just over a year later Jackie has been awarded an OBE for her services to training and people development. […]

Viv Bellamy is a self-employed holistic therapist based in Bristol. Last month she was awarded her Level 2 Award in Enterprise and Employability through the city’s Centre for Capacity Building & Enterprise Development (CCBED), which has recently gained its IOEE Enterprise Academy status. This month we chatted to Viv about how the experience has not only […]

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) held its 10th annual Grand Idea awards evening on Thursday 8 June, celebrating student success and RAU’s continued commitment to student enterprise. Established in 2008, the Grand Idea business competition gives students the opportunity to pitch their business idea to panel of expert judges, in the hope of winning a […]

‘Enterprisingly Me’ is a monthly feature where you can follow my entrepreneurial adventures. Names have been changed to protect the innocent but everything you read really happened. I hope my story inspires you to take your first steps, or if you already have, then it lets you know you’re not on your own. Starting and […]

Tim Rivett is the Mentoring Manager for the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). Working closely with SFEDI, the mentoring organisations and the High Street banks, Tim supports bank employees on their journey to gaining qualifications in mentoring, so that they in turn are able to successfully use their business experience to positively impact SMEs across the […]

Pauric McGowan is the President of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), and a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Development at the University of Ulster in Belfast. He is passionate about how an entrepreneurial mindset can help people navigate their careers and how this, in turn, can shape our social, cultural and economic […]

Matthew Rogers-Draycott is a Compliance Director at Arcadia Nursing Recruitment and a lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Worcester, as well as being an IOEE Fellow. This month we spoke to Matt to discuss how the economy is changing the way that we work, his passion for helping people to set up their own […]

IOEE are delighted to welcome back our guest blogger, Clare Talbot-Jones. Clare and her husband, Richard, run Talbot Jones Risk Solutions, based in Felling, Gateshead. In this month’s blog, Clare shares her ideas on how small businesses can help support charities. When we launched our business last year we had to reduce our charity giving […]

Ailsa Victoria Miller is an artist from North East England. She creates beautiful original botanical pastel drawings, prints and gifts that are inspired by the vivid colours of nature. Ailsa’s entrepreneurial journey is an extraordinary one, having overcome enormous personal challenges and obstacles to make a living from doing something that brings her joy. This month we […]

In 2009 Katie Geddes set up The Dance Studio Leeds (DSL), bringing together her professional dance training and her entrepreneurial spirit. When we first spoke to Katie in 2016, the IOEE had just matched her with a mentor, Colin Kemp, through the Meet a Mentor scheme. One year on, we catch up with Katie and […]

David Williams is an IOEE enterprise mentor who recently established an Enterprise Mentoring relationship with mentee Barbara Govan and her award winning independent TV production and training company, Screenhouse, despite being just 25 years old. We caught up with David to find out why age is no barrier to mentoring success. Leeds-based David Williams works […]

We’re currently carrying out a piece of national research into business and enterprise support to guide strategy and policy. Your opinion is vital to this research. If you could spare five minutes to complete our online survey you’ll be helping to shape the future business support landscape. Click here to have your say… Developed in […]