Nicholas Craig column
Apr 1 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal
Cultivating and keeping entrepreneurs in the North-East is key to our future economic health.
Two excellent initiatives - the Enterprise Centre at Newcastle University and the £6m Aspire campaign - are spearheading the drive to keep entrepreneurial talent in this region.
The Enterprise Centre has stormed to the front of the UK's entrepreneur training centres.
It has already notched up a host of successful company start-ups led by Newcastle graduates.
These include Fresh Element which brings to your door all the ingredients and instructions to cook a fantastic three-course meal, and Bums on Seats a talented theatre production group who brought the sell-out jazzy, snazzy Swing Fever to Newcastle City Hall.
Each evolved from initial idea to spinout business because the centre gave them the know-how to survive and succeed.
I sincerely wish the centre's Enterprise SOUP had been on the menu when I was a student. The SOUP (Society of University Pioneers) promotes the concept of self-employment, encourages brainstorming and networking with businesses and other students.
The quality of advice, support and training Newcastle graduates receive from the Enterprise Centre puts it in the Premier League, according to national body of entrepreneurs SFEDI, which awarded it a UK Centre of Excellence rating last December - the only university-based centre to get to the top.
The Aspire campaign keys into a younger audience. It is a business-led culture-change programme motivating the region's 14-plus youngsters to achieve their dream careers.
Only 40pc of pupils in the North-East believe they will be able to get the job they want, and only 33pc definitely plan to stay and work here.
Aspire seeks to shift those perceptions by showing that the region offers a choice of careers, and the chance to make it on your own, with help.
The five-year campaign aims to help motivate young people to gain the skills they need to get the job they want, or to plan their own business success.
The key to success is making the most of what's on offer.
We have talented teams committed to helping young entrepreneurs take the first step and, most importantly, to stay in our region and ensure it thrives.
Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton LLP.
