Seven University College Birmingham graduates, three from the BA (Hons) Specialist Hair Media Make-up course and four from the BA (Hons) Aesthetic Practitioner course, were selected to form a pilot cohort of the Creative Futures Incubator at its McIntyre House campus building and started their entrepreneurial journey on 3rd October 2022.
This initiative was developed to enhance the current offer at University College Birmingham in the Enterprise Incubator and BSEEN (Birmingham Skills for Enterprise and Employability network).
The Project
The best part of being part of the Creative Futures Incubator is meeting like-minded entrepreneurs who want to be successful.
Lauren Pryer
And I’m learning different marketing techniques to help grow my business.
I’ve worked freelance for myself, but over the last three years, I’ve just focused on university. I applied to be part of the incubator before I graduated and I am now learning new skills which I can use for my business. I think the mentoring and coaching is very valuable for me and I’m making the most of it.
Nicole Simone Bailey
Over the summer 2022, teams from both universities worked with business coaches, Alice Stanek and Louise Hanson from Illuminate Retail, to offer a broad range of support for graduating students from the two courses. The support includes access to Start-Up Sherpas – a 12-week digital enterprise course and a series of online seminars on business planning, strategy and marketing techniques.
Each business benefited from six months of business support including monthly 1:1s, team building and marketing workshops, as well as a grant of £2,000 and the chance to access an additional £500 grant to support their marketing plans. In addition, they gained access dedicated workspace, networking opportunities with their peers and broader business development and entrepreneurial connections from University College Birmingham and University of Warwick’s industry networks.
Creative Futures Leamington
This activity was designed based on the success of the Creative Futures Incubator at the University of Warwick which is run from 1 Mill Street in Leamington Spa.
The programme, which has run for over two years, supports start-up and early-stage businesses from a range of creative sectors and prides itself on fostering collaborations and making meaningful connections between the industry and regional leaders.
Contact Us
Book a 15-min discovery call with Clare Green, Creative and Digital Communities Manager, to discuss the Creative Futures Incubator, or email creativeanddigital@warwick.ac.uk