Student Enterprise

If you are interested in developing enterprise activities, we offer a range of opportunities for students:

 Hope Business Gateway opens the door to O2 for enterprising students!

7 lucky Liverpool Hope students received a unique opportunity this month to visit the Slough headquarters of the UK’s leading communication company O2.

Led by Dr. Martin Carey and organised by Carol Buckman, the students and graduates had the opportunity to enjoy presentations and talks from heads of the O2 Lab, O2 Media and O2 Health along with the chance to grill a recent graduate trainee about his experience and current projects he is working on. The business gateway team have forged a strong link with O2’s corporate manager Ann McCracken who kindly planned the event and supports the universities O2 Awards.
Hope Student and Graduate Enterprise Officer Sean Clift said “The trip offered a great opportunity for our students to immerse themselves in the world of communication in all its forms. It also gave them an insight into what working for a leading communications business might be like. It was a fantastic day that everybody enjoyed thoroughly.”
The visit began with a talk from Paul Golding head of the O2 Lab, who is responsible for trying to predict what is going to happen to the communication industry in the future! A difficult but extremely interesting job and a fantastic presentation, following this the students received a talk from Jack Tyler a current graduate trainee who is working on the Think Big community campaign, which is a funding pool open to anybody, aged 18-24 with a social idea that will have a positive impact on their local community. The students also took the chance to grill Jack about his experience at O2 and what his training scheme involved.

 After lunch O2’s head of media planning Charlie Hunter-Schyff gave a presentation about new mobile marketing and advertising, which is set to give O2 customers real time discount offers, direct to their phones as they pass by shops, an amazing piece of technology which the students were astounded by! He explained “Mobile messaging is the only way that brands can open up a unique one-to-one dialogue with customers and create real engagement. O2 Media is all about creating an exciting customer and advertiser experience, backed up by one of the UKs most respected brands.” Jason Dowling a recent Hope Graduate and winner of the O2 Awards for Enterprise here at the Hope said “The fact that O2 will be able to offer me discounts and offers in my favourite shops when I walk close to them or into them is amazing! So innovative and something I am looking forward too!”

Next was Keith Nurcombe to talk about O2 Health which will find better ways to deliver healthcare. As the health sector faces increasing demand on its resources, O2 Health is helping NHS and private organisations deliver better care, more efficiently. The new innovations have already saved the NHS 14 million in O2 Health’s first year of existence and one case study found that the intermediate care team in Rotherham is now spending 33% more time with patients, thanks to a partnership between NHS Rotherham and O2 Health. The Health section looks at the way the NHS works, for example district nurses. Keith explained “Usually a district nurse can see up to 4 maybe 5 patients a day, after seeing the patient and making notes, with a pen and paper, they will go back to the office in the afternoon and type up all the notes about each patient and send these to the relevant places, which is very inefficient. O2 health studies this behaviour and offers technology solutions to increase efficiency. To deal with the district nurses issues we trained the staff to use digital pens to take down notes, this then transfers into type with 99.9% accuracy and is automatically added to the records of the patient within three minutes of the nurse completing them, saving time in the office and wasted journeys, freeing up more time for patient interaction!”

At the end of the day the students and staff were treated to a tour of the O2 offices and here are some pictures to enjoy! The visit forms part of a growing relationship between the UKs leading communications company and Liverpool Hope University.

  Go ON it's Liverpool

Hope Business Gateway is supporting Go ON it's Liverpool. The campaign is aiming to recruit 5000 digital champions by March 2012, to support the 25,000 people in Liverpool who have never been online. For information on how you can get involved, click here .

Join Hope's Student Enterprise Society!

We are looking for enthusiastic students to join the committee of Hope's Student Enterprise Society and contribute to the development of an enterprising culture on campus.  Meet like-minded people and help to organise activities such as business idea competitions, seminars on how to launch your entrepreneurial ideas, talks by inspirational speakers and social events. For further information, contact Jen Cahill: 0151 291 3982 / This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or click here .

We organised a series of workshops with our industry partners, which ran through February and March 2011. We aimed to help students to enhance their skills and develop greater employability. To read a review of the workshops please download this document:  Enterprise Workshop Report (30 kB) 

Creating Opportunities for Liverpool Graduates

A unique initiative linking Liverpool's higher education centres with the city's thriving creative sector is set to make Liverpool a cutting edge centre for innovation and enterprise.  'Creative Opportunities' is a free online recruitment tool that matches talent with job opportunities to retain the finest creative minds in Liverpool and attract other talent and business to the city.

Liverpool Vision, the city's economic development company, is working with Liverpool Hope University and other higher education centres in the city, along with leading businesses in Liverpool's thriving creative and digital sectors, to create a dynamic, purpose-built website: www.creative-opportunities.co.uk .  The website allows students and graduates to search for employment, work placements and internships that match their skills, while creative businesses can advertise their jobs and for project collaborations.

Hope's Visit to Agent Marketing

On Wednesday 30th March, 25 Hope University students walked through the big purple door at Agent Marketing to get a taste of what life is like in a busy strategic marketing and PR agency.  Boy did they get the full Agent treatment, with tours of the building, talks from both strategy and PR teams and a really good Q&A session.

All the students said they really enjoyed the opportunity and Sean Clift, Hope's Student Enterprise Officer, who organised the trip, stated: "It is really important that we support our students and give them a chance to see what everyday life is like in as many different businesses as possible!"

Paul Corcoran, one of the directors at Agent, described the students as a pleasure to speak to and a real asset to the University! 

Royal Navy and Royal Marines at Hope

A Royal Navy and Royal Marines team paid a visit to Liverpool Hope University on Thursday 24th February to undertake FREE leadership/management taster sessions. This was an opportunity for students to complete practical tasks as both a team member and team leader in a controlled environment.  The sessions were highly enjoyable and the tasks were revealing in terms of highlighting strengths and weaknesses in leadership and communication styles. The event was organised as a joint venture between Hope Business Gateway and the Student Success Zone.

Sean Clift, Hope Student and Graduate Enterprise Officer, stated. “The sessions really got you thinking outside the box, the tasks were great fun and it also made you aware of how tough it can be as a Royal Marine Commando.” 

The event took place at Hope Park Sport Centre and tasks included working as part of a team whilst under pressure. For example in one task participants were blindfolded whilst being directed by an elected leader. This focused your mind on the importance of working as a team and being able to listen to a set of instructions.

Krystle Larkin, a third year student at Hope, added “The tasks gave us an insight into the different types of situations and environments the Marines and the Navy find themselves in whilst on patrol and how leadership and management skills are vital. They helped me realise points where I am strong and areas in which I could improve, overall they were of real value.” 

Karen Owens, a second year accountancy student, stated “ I just wanted to say that even though I wasn't going to come today I am glad that I did. I was really happy I came over to support my friend. I was impressed with the whole program and how it was adapted even slightly so that I could be involved. I learnt a lot about myself when it comes to leadership, mostly that doing it is better than thinking about it. If it doesn't work I can always start again. This was something I had never thought before, never thought about failing as a learning curve.”

The Royal Marine Officers will return on March 10th to talk specifically about careers in the Navy and offer tips and advice on interview styles and techniques. Anybody interested in attending these events should contact Jen Cahill on 0151 291 3982 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Student Nate Flynn wins £2000 at Social Entrepreneurship Awards!

Nate Flynn, full time undergraduate student at Liverpool Hope University, took part in the Social Entrepreneurship "Dare to be Different" competition held by UnLtd and HEFCE at Blackburne House.  The Catalyst Awards programme from UnLtd and HEFCE provides financial and non-financial support across Higher Education Institutions in England to develop their expertise, skills, knowledge base and business support structures in social entrepreneurship and social enterprise activity. HEFCE promotes and funds high quality, cost-effective teaching and research, meeting the diverse needs of stuidents, the economy and society.

Nate entered the competition with his company Geckobyte Studies which intends to help 15-18 year old students struggling with Maths, Physics and English skills by teaching them to build and design computer games and website development.  Along with this, Nate also plans to employ first year students to deliver the courses and workshops and is looking into partnerships with Microsoft and Sony to offer work placements.

Nate's pitch was one of several seen on the evening and it was an anxious wait to find out how much he had been awarded. Nate said "I am really nervous but I have had great support from the University, especially from the Computing Department tutors such as Steve Presland and Alma Whitfield and from Carol Buckman and Sean Clift in the Business Gateway.  Their support and encouragement made me realise my idea had potential and hopefully I can win some money and get my idea off the ground!.

Nate's idea was successful because it was an entrepreneurial solution to social problems that demonstrate a connection to the Higher Education sector. Nate holds his first workshop for students in February and already has plans for a summer school.  For more information please visit www.geckobytestudios.com.

Your Big Year

In November 2010, Liverpool Hope University and the Business Gateway team invited 25 students to take part in a workshop provided by 4 finalists of the Your Big Year competition.  Your Big Year is a competition to encourage global citizenship and social responsibility through entrepreneurship. It is an exciting and official event of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Enterprising individuals compete for the prize of a 12-month, expenses paid trip around the world, by raising money and the profile of a group of short-listed charities, and engaging in the ‘windows of opportunity’ monthly challenges.

Winners will be given the opportunity to meet world leaders, celebrities and inspirational entrepreneurs. They will be given the tools and support to create their own international profile in the global media.

The workshop, delivered by the four of the finalist, aimed at helping students understand what it is to be enterprising, through a range of activities from networking with people you have only just met to exciting, fun and interactive challenges like the balloon structure challenge.

The 25 students were split into teams of 5 and each given a packet of balloons a role of sellotape and a brief which was to build a structure that could hold the weight of a team member without popping a single balloon and of course only 15 minutes to do it in.

Each of the teams had different strategies and soon learned who their leaders were and which team member had the best skills for a particular job.

At the end of the challenge feedback was given from the four finalists and each team realised that they had increased their understanding of enterprise, networking team building and time management. The session was greatly appreciated and we would like to wish the four finalists the best of luck in the competition.

3 months' FREE Incubation Space

Are you a Hope student or have you graduated from Hope within the last 5 years?  If so, you could take advantage of our offer of 3 months' free incubation space in the new Capstone Building at the Creative Campus.  This includes shared access to the incubation hub and use of a computer in there, with possible opportunities for programming your work into the Hope Theatre. 

To take up this offer, you will need to put forward a business plan to Hope Business Gateway and have it approved by us.  To submit your business plan, or for further information, please email Neil Campbell: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

HopeWorks

HopeWorks allows students to supplement their income and gain valuable work experience through part-time work within a department of Liverpool Hope University. Jobs vary from tele-marketer to advocates working in secondary schools. Click here for more information and a list of current vacancies. 

Flying Start Programmes

Flying Start is an initiative supported by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, designed to help students and graduates from North West Higher Education Institutions set themselves up in business.

Click here to read about the successful 3-day Flying Start programme hosted by Liverpool Hope University in December 2009.

If you are graduating soon, why not look at our Opportunities for Graduates page too!