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BBC Dragon urges those in education to embrace new thinking

Doug Richard

Doug Richard

Press release issued: 3 December 2012

Former Dragons’ Den star and businessman Doug Richard is coming to Bristol to share his knowledge and help people to ‘unleash their entrepreneurial potential’. The investor, who is himself a serial entrepreneur and founder of School for Startups which teaches people how to start and run better businesses, will be leading two workshops at the University of Bristol on Wednesday, 12 December.

The investor, who is himself a serial entrepreneur and founder of School for Startups which teaches people how to start and run better businesses, will be leading two workshops at the University of Bristol on Wednesday, 12 December. They’re free and aimed at students and staff from all local further and higher education institutions.

Doug aims to challenge universities’ knowledge of entrepreneurship as part of the Entrepreneurial Institution (EI) Programme, which is sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

It’s also being supported by the SETsquared Partnership, an enterprise collaboration of the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey, to support its student population to gain hands-on business skills and entrepreneurial training.

Doug, who was an investor in the first two series of Dragons’ Den and has gone on to train more than 12,000 entrepreneurs, said: “The UK needs entrepreneurs now more than ever. We have to start tapping into the abundance of innovative talent that British universities and colleges have, and help them to unleash their entrepreneurial potential. There are so many brilliant people out there who can be part of Britain’s entrepreneurial future, and I can’t wait to meet them and get down to business.”

The workshops will explore all the ways in which managers, researchers, teachers and students can engage with entrepreneurial concepts to help orchestrate real change.

The Entrepreneurial Institution Programme aims to stimulate a more entrepreneurial approach, create and develop more entrepreneurial opportunities, and encourage research activity to have a greater economic impact.

Dave Jarman, Head of Enterprise Education at the University of Bristol, said: “Doug is a remarkably engaging and compelling speaker so it’s a real privilege to play host to him here at the University. His message is for academics and students of all disciplines, right through to senior management – and it’s that the world is changing and that we all need to think about how we’re going to create value, of all kinds, in the future. I’d encourage anyone with a stake in higher education to come and be engaged in the debate.”

The Entrepreneurial Institution (EI) Programme is working in partnership with the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE), the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE); Enterprise Educators UK, Universities UK and VITAE to deliver the workshop.

To book your free place, please visit the Entrepreneurial Institution's website.

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