Student
and graduate entrepreneurs from Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland
universities are making a significant impact to the region’s social, cultural
and economic recovery from the covid-19 pandemic through the success of their
business start-ups, SMEs and social enterprises.
The
recent publication of results from the Higher Education Business and Community
Interaction (HE-BCI) Survey by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
demonstrates the entrepreneurial output from each institution with aggregated
data from 2019-20 revealing, amongst other statistics, the collective turnover,
external investment and job creation of their business founders.
The four
universities have produced over 450 active start-ups, including close to 100
new businesses across 2019 and 2020, that have generated £188.7 million in
turnover, almost £36 million in external investment and 1,935 full-time equivalent
jobs. Whilst many are trading globally, 79% remain based in the North East to
the benefit of the local economy.
The data
collection exercise also brought to light countless inspiring stories of resilience
and adaptability against the barriers to small business over the course of the Covid-19
pandemic, as well as the impact and contributions the start-ups are making to
local communities and society overall.
Durham
University graduates Peter Kirby and William Smith founded Tred late in 2020 with strong results. Tred
is the UK’s first and only green debit card that helps users spend more
sustainably by tracking your carbon footprint, helping you to reduce your
impact and giving you a simple way to offset the rest. Every time you spend,
you will help Tred plant trees as their profits are funding reforestation
projects. In April 2021, Peter and Will ran a crowdfunding campaign to launch their
green debit card to the public and raised over £1,000,000, far surpassing their
initial target of £400,000.
Newcastle
University graduate Dan Ellis founded the Jam Jar Cinema in 2012, converting a
derelict job centre in Whitley Bay into a thriving venture that now welcomes
over 80,000 visitors a year and aids the town’s regeneration through its social
enterprise status. At the outset of Covid-19, Dan launched a crowdfunder,
raising over £7,500 for local heroes and key workers, and when pandemic
restrictions continued, he pivoted to launch the North East’s first independent
streaming service, Jam Jar Player. Underpinned by a value matrix to
remain local, affordable, diverse, inclusive and well-liked, Jam Jar was
recognised in 2020 as the UK's Small Business of the Year at the UK Small
Awards, also winning the Heart of the Community award at the North East
Business Awards.
Northumbria
University graduate Greg Miles founded digital marketing agency Bumbl in 2015, to help businesses in the
region use social media to build audiences and gain customers. Bumbl has grown
as businesses have started to take social media more seriously as a marketing
tool. It is now a team of six and expects to add two new members this year.
While its client base expands to London and beyond, North-East businesses still
make up the lion’s share - from local independents like Jesmond Dene House to
global brands such as Mayborn Group. Greg and the team are confident that Bumbl
can make a positive impact on the regional economy by helping their clients win
business and grow.
The
University of Sunderland graduate Fern Snailham was listed in 2020 as one
of Business Leader’s 32 UK female entrepreneurs to watch, after being named a
Duke of York Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018. Within four years of
launching her promotional staffing agency UNEEK Staffing, Fern has grown her
staff and client base to over 4,000 and launched a second business during
lockdown. Having been given her start by the Enterprise Place, the University’s
business support facility, UNEEK Staffing has flourished, boasting clients
across the UK from football clubs to festivals, and with Fern’s second business
UNEEK Entertainment, she is on track for a combined projected turnover of
almost £500k this year.
As well
as joining forces via the North
East Covid-19 Economic Response Group, established by the North East Local
Enterprise Partnership (NELEP) at the start of the pandemic, each university
continues to equip their students and graduates to develop sustainable,
growth-orientated businesses.
Antony
Long, Acting Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University, said “We are
continually growing our work with entrepreneurial students and graduates like
Peter and Will. Our new Hazan Venture Lab provides a space for students to
experiment with business ideas, working closely with our Careers and Enterprise
team, and local business partners. It is important for us to create ways in
which our students can use their learning and develop skills with real-world
applications. Our Careers & Enterprise Centre bespoke support at all stages
of business ideas, supporting to the world-changing entrepreneurial ventures of
our alumni in the North East and all over the world. We find it easy to be
proud of the extraordinary people we have at Durham. We offer the inspiration;
they achieve the outstanding.”
Professor
Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President of Newcastle University, said: “We
are incredibly proud of the entrepreneurial Newcastle University students and
graduates who are driving change and making a difference to the economy regionally,
nationally and across the globe when it is most needed. Our START UP team
continue to coach and further a diverse portfolio of business founders, social
entrepreneurs and independent professionals who are launching growth and scale
ventures and creating skilled jobs for themselves and others. It’s our role to encourage
them to strive for impact, creativity and excellence within their sectors and
fields, despite the challenging landscape for business, as well as to celebrate
their resilience, adaptability and success.”
Professor
Andrew Wathey CBE, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria
University, said: “Northumbria has built a strong record in student and
graduate enterprise over many years, driven both by our entrepreneurial and
business support services, and now increasingly through greater capacity in
world-leading research that has impact on key regional growth sectors such as
the digital economy, engineering, renewable energy, design, social enterprise
and culture. These areas are all providing exciting start-up opportunities and
we will continue to invest in our enterprising graduates and in research to
ensure the North-East economy has a strong and sustainable future."
Professor
Jon Timmis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Commercial) at the University of Sunderland,
said: “It is fantastic to see our students developing new businesses that
create such impact and contribute so much to our region. Supporting our
students to be entrepreneurial is of great importance to us as a University and
is integral to our civic role within the city of Sunderland and wider region.
Now more than ever, we need new businesses to drive innovation, create jobs and
support the growth of the region and we are proud to play our part in
supporting our students to do exactly that.”
