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Purpose Driven Business – how to start and build a business with purpose


    In support of the 15th anniversary of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and their annual Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) the Business & IP Centre will be hosting Purpose Driven Business, to celebrate the GEW 2022 theme of Grow With Purpose.

    Our panel of speakers, representing a range of purpose-led businesses, will come together to share their expertise and business stories. They’ll question approaches from the past, challenge the status quo of today and discuss how all of these learnings can help build more resilient and focused businesses. We will discuss why having a ‘purpose’ is central to every start-up and how honing in on yours will help to drive growth and ensure your business thrives in the current climate.

    About our panel:

    • Dr Liz Jackson MBE of BCMS is a motivational speaker and partially sighted business owner supporting the business community
    • Jayni Gudka is the CEO of Unseen Tours, a provider of walking tours by formerly homeless guides who know the streets intimately and will show you the real London
    • Tasha Thompson is the founder Black Girls Do Run UK. Her business is changing the perception of running, and creating a safe space for black women in the health and fitness community
    • Valerie Brandes of Jacaranda Books. Jacaranda books is a publishing company giving visibility for black and brown authors
    • Moderated by Eni Timi Biu of Create Your Table

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Inspiring Entrepreneurs: Building the Black Economy


Join our panel of experts to learn how Black entrepreneurs are building empires online by using their influence and creativity.

You will hear from six inspiring entrepreneurs at various stages in their careers and across a range of industries, as our panel come together to discuss the considerations they took into account when building their businesses and the insights they have learnt along the way.

Whether you are just thinking about starting a business, a business owner who wants to learn more, or perhaps you wish to establish a stronger network, you’ll leave this event feeling inspired and engaged.

On the day, you can expect to:

Learn how the Black Lives Matter movement prompted the rise in Black enterprises and powered increased support for themUnderstand the financial reality of starting a business in today’s changing marketExplore Black-owned businesses in theatre and the arts and the importance of representation on the stageRecognise the power of the Black pound and how to convert this knowledge into assets for the Black economyLearn about the importance of social media for building Black businesses.
Following this will be an engaging and thought-provoking Fireside Chat – a discussion on community building with Black Pound Day founder and So Solid Crew member, Swiss.

About our panel

Rachael Twumasi-Corson, CEO and founder of Afrocenchix Ltd. At 19 Rachael co-founded Afrocenchix, an award-winning ethical start-up that creates safe, effective, vegan certified products for Afro & curly hair.Emmanuel Asuquo, founder of The Eman Effect UK, is a renowned, financial adviser, media personality, wealth building entrepreneur and international speaker.TJ Atkinson is a Property Investor, who specialises in transforming homes into beautiful, creative masterpieces. Alongside growing his portfolio, TJ supports people in his community with getting started in property.Indie Gordon is Head of Program at Foundervine and founder of Halo safety app. She aims to empower today's and tomorrow's companies, ensuring they’re tech-enabled and can weather the storm of any social, economic or environmental change.The panel will be moderated by Khai Shaw, co-founder of the theatre company Nuu Theatre. Khai has collaborated with the English Touring Theatre Company and the Bush Theatre.

Fireside Chat

Swiss is the founder of Black Pound Day, the UK's biggest economic movement that supports Black-owned businesses. He is a cultural influencer, business leader, author, and highly acclaimed musician and member of So Solid Crew. Alongside his passion for music, Swiss founded the Black Pound Day movement to support awareness and growth of the Black businesses and economy in the UK and global diasporic communities. Recently, Swiss opened the first permanent retail store at Westfield London, Europe's biggest shopping centre, and continues to actively support hundreds of businesses across the country.The chat will be moderated by Jacqueline Brown, BIPC Business Support Programming Manager, serial entrepreneur and founder of businesses Africa Fashion Guide, Wax and Wraps and M.O.R.Empire. Since 2011, Jacqueline has helped start-ups to build and launch sustainable fashion businesses from scratch with coaching, digital tools, community and connections.

Getting started with the latest trends in the UK market

At the moment there are, of course, huge doubts about what the future holds. But that doesn’t stop us being able to assess the current business market to explore new trends and behaviours - insights that could help your business flourish, even in the most uncertain of times.

Mintel is the world's leading market intelligence agency. Our guest presenter, Jack Duckett, Mintel’s Consumer Lifestyles Analyst, will distil the biggest trends, especially in today’s changing climate. In these recent times, Mintel has been helping their clients understand the impact of COVID-19 on their markets. Tune in on Start-up Day to hear about the effects on consumer behaviours and how key markets will fare over the next few years, including food and drink, beauty, leisure and more.

The Mintel sector reports can be accessed for free in our National Network of Business & IP Centres, based in libraries around the UK. Before you start exploring the databases yourself, this is your guide to figuring out what the stats actually say.

Understanding these trends gives valuable insights for new businesses looking to stay relevant in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace. Don’t start your business without this insider guide to understanding and capitalising on the key UK business trends today.

Getting started and seen by your new customers

This session will help you think creatively to generate the visibility and traction to establish your new business in the market.

With thousands of new businesses launching every month and more information consumed around the clock than ever before, to get your start-up noticed, you will need to cut through the noise. We’re here to tell you that although it doesn’t necessarily require a large budget, it will require planning and the ability to seize the moment.

Karen Campbell from The Small Awards will be on hand to outline some tips to help you identify what are the special and differentiating factors about your business, how you can get these messages out, and, most important of all, how to ensure those messages get noticed.

The Small Awards showcase the variety and quality among small start-ups and Karen will be joined by Fran Gubbay, co-founder of Stamptastic, winners of Best Digital Business in 2019.

When you have a clear voice about what your business does and what it stands for, it increases your chance of being heard. 18 months ago Fran decided that they as co-founders, and their personalities, needed to feature more in their business, which led to news interviews, new leads and a couple of awards as well.

Listen in to learn some practical advice on how to make your own luck for exciting marketing opportunities.

If this session is of interest then do also look at the earlier free-to-watch presentation at 09:45 – 10:30 on the latest consumer trends from market research analyst Mintel. This can help underpin any marketing strategy you develop for your business.

Getting started with your sales strategy

Your idea becomes a business once you have those first customers and cash flow. It sounds simple, but in reality there are many complexities to defining how you will draw in customers, retain their loyalty and continue producing profit. In this session you can get to grips with the essential early decisions needed to set out how much it will cost to deliver your products and services, how to determine what price to charge and how to keep people coming back for more. And importantly, we will discuss how you can do all of this with heart and the social impact front and centre.

You will hear from the 2020 winner of The Small Awards’ Bricks and Clicks category, MODO Creative who have experimented and evolved an impressive multi-channel sales strategy.

MODO Creative also focus on the idea that a money-making business can also be community-forging and impactful. They will discuss how you might consider independent makers, designers and services to pass on sales further down the supply chain and keep them retained within the small business community.

Karen Campbell from The Small Awards will be on hand to outline some tips and best practice as well as moderating the interview.

Though you may be starting small at the beginning, join us to learn about some clever ways to cultivate a winning customer experience for your walk-in and online audience.

Inspiring Entrepreneurs: The Changing Face of Fashion


The fashion industry has always been subject to rapid change and fast-evolving trends and the last few years have been no exception.

Faced with major disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, fashion offers many examples of innovation and exciting change in the face of difficult circumstances. Some of these changes stand to have a huge impact on the way we live our lives.

The current cost-of-living crisis is poised to shift attitudes once again, as some 48% of consumers say that rising prices are making them more aware of the importance of sustainable fashion and re-wearing their items.*

This year, the UK is set to become the first European nation where most clothing is bought online.** From this steep rise in online shopping to fashion shows powered by AI to a shift in attitudes to fast fashion, this is an exciting market to be a part of when you know its next direction.

This event will help you understand emergent trends in fashion and how to make them work for your business. At this event, you will:

Understand the reality of starting a fashion brand as an SME in today’s changing market and how the cost of living crisis is impacting brands’ supply chain, sales and growth
Learn how sustainability in the fashion industry has grown, changed and even evolved since 2020. What can we learn from manufacturers changing ways of working and sourcing in exchange for orders?
Understand why there is a greater need for transparency since the pandemic
Learn about new trends in fashion and how forecasting within the industry has been affected
Explore often unrecognised parts of the industry such as the rise of craft and how home-sewing has grown since the 2020 lockdown. Learn how to leverage the power of crafts to develop an online presence
Learn about the growth in interest in new fashion regions, such as the rise of African designers
Understand how the future of fashion with the rise of digital fashion or AI, VR and 3D printing.

About our panel:

You will hear from a panel of industry experts who will talk about their personal experiences and share their wealth of knowledge on the fashion industry and its future.

Orsola de Castro is an internationally recognised opinion leader in sustainable fashion, a mentor, curator and author. Her multi award-winning brand From Somewhere (1997 – 2014) was a pioneer in the field of upcycling and sold in some of the world’s best boutiques; her collaborations include collections for Tesco Clothing, Robe Di Kappa, Topshop and Speedo.

Priscillia Okpan is a Nigerian fashion designer and digital content creator based in London. After interning with established fashion brands to gather industry experience, she started her fashion YouTube channel, Kim Dave. She has amassed over 420k subscribers and 22 million views. She launched a ready-to-wear womenswear label in 2019 which celebrates her Nigerian roots.

Lora Nikolaeva (aka GENE) is the CEO and founder of Lora Gene, an accomplished fashion entrepreneur with international experience. Bulgarian born and raised, now based in London, she entered the fashion world to support her studies working as a model.

After several years on the road and across continents, she started a successful career as a make-up artist, founding the first make-up and hair agency in Eastern Europe. As the business grew it transformed into a clothing brand, which opened its first retail store in central Sofia in 2010. Lora Gene is recognised as one of the best sustainable and ethical fashion brands in the UK, with publications in Vogue, InStyle, The Stylist, the Independent, Guardian and many more.

Patrick McDowell is an independent, sustainable luxury brand founded in 2018 by designer Patrick McDowell. After graduating from the prestigious Central Saint Martins, McDowell has strived to reinvent the role of a fashion designer, as we know it today. Showcasing his debut collection at London Fashion Week in 2018, the designer has since captivated the industry whilst gaining the recognition of titans who share Patrick’s vision for redesigning and creating an accessible circular solution and system that creativity can flourish in.

Justin Duffy has worked in product design for 10+ years across highstreet (Next, River), sport (Puma), streetwear (Money Clothing) and outdoor categories (Rohan). Now working on the mindset team at WGSN – a trend forecasting company – Justin uses his understanding of the design process and a love for cutting edge creativity to explore new growth opportunities across fashion and lifestyle categories.


Fireside chat:

Patrick Grant has had a career in fashion spanning over a decade. In 2005, after leaving a career in Engineering, he took over as Director at Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons. In December 2010 he won the Menswear Designer of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards and in May 2015 he was awarded the BFC/ GQ Designer Menswear Fund for his work on menswear brand E. Tautz which he re-launched in 2009.

Frequently appearing in best dressed lists in the UK, he has been a regular fixture in GQ’s 50 Best Dressed Men and was also named in Esquire Magazine’s Most Stylish Men in the World. In 2016 he made the Business of Fashion 500 index of the most influential people in global fashion. Patrick is a regular on television and radio as a commentator on the British fashion, clothing and textile industries.

He has been a contributor to several major television documentaries including Savile Row, Harris Tweed, and The Perfect Suit, but is best known for his role in the popular BBC Series The Great British Sewing Bee, for which he was nominated for the 2017 National Television Awards.

He has written on diverse subjects for many titles including GQ, The Financial Times and The Times. His book ‘Original Man’ was published by Gestalten in 2014. He is a regular lecturer at schools and colleges across the UK.

Michael Cashman

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