Entrepreneurial shortlist for Teesside University

Teesside is a finalist for the prestigious Times Higher Education Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award.

The announcement follows Teesside’s success last year in being named as the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year and winning the magazine’s Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative Award.

Professor Graham Henderson, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, said: 'It’s never been more important to be entrepreneurial – to think and act in innovative ways, and be able to create your own opportunities.

'At Teesside, we concentrate not only on entrepreneurship skills, but on encouraging a whole ‘can-do’ mindset. So it’s especially pleasing that the whole University – students, graduates and staff – is recognised in this shortlist.'

Duncan Bannatyne, star of BBC’s Dragon’s Den and one of the University’s honorary graduates, said: 'Teesside is a fantastic University for working with business, and what it’s doing to stimulate entrepreneurship is very close to my heart. I know from both the start-up companies I’ve dealt with and the graduates I’ve taken on in my own business they’ve got what it takes to succeed.'

Striding to success

Among those succeeding at Teesside is 13 Strides, a sports digital agency which creates websites for sports brands, sport federations and sports events. It was launched by Anthony Borsumato - a 400m hurdler with the GB team before suffering a career ending injury at the World Championships in Paris. He set up the business with his cousin, Kevin Allinson, after they both graduated from the MSc in MultiMedia Applications.

The company began in one of the University’s graduate business incubation units, and was the first business to move into the University’s £12m showpiece Institute of Digital Innovation – a nerve centre for the DigitalCity project on the campus.

Anthony said: 'Teesside University was the perfect platform to set up our business and follow our dream. The accommodation and facilities are great and the support and advice we received when initially setting up was perfect.'

Another home-grown entrepreneur is Steve Smelt, managing director of Teesside Sports Injury Centre, and Programme Leader in Sports Therapy at the University.

He launched Teesside Sports Injury Centre five years ago as a campus-based incubator business and the social enterprise involves around ten University staff and graduates. They provide a way of assessing, examining and devising exercise programme to take athletes and others back to fitness, while also helping to promote the University’s sports therapy programme.

Steve said: 'Graduates don’t have the financial backing to set themselves up, so the Sports Injury Centre is a way in which they can be employed, with a percentage going back into running the enterprise.'

Factfile

>Teesside’s shortlisted submission is based on the University’s integrated approach to enterprise and entrepreneurship which has directly led to the creation of DigitalCity, a flagship initiative that is creating a cluster of digital industries in the region from the University’s knowledge base.

>We emphasised the University’s ‘can-do ethos’ which encourages students, graduates and staff to maximise creativity and innovation through the curriculum and the wide range of support for up to 32 campus start-ups at any one time and others off-campus.

>To date 100 digital companies have been launched through the DigitalCity Fellowship scheme with a similar number of new businesses supported through other University initiatives.

>Local authorities and overseas bodies have visited Teesside University in recent years to learn from its experience with enterprise and entrepreneurship with a view of setting up similar initiatives.

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