Leicester ranked in UK top five for entrepreneurial activity
Leicester is ranked among the top five cities in the UK for MBA entrepreneurs.
Instant Offices has produced a ranking of the ten best cities for MBA entrepreneurs in which Leicester is placed fourth.
The report cites the Startup Weekend as an example of the entrepreneurial spirit in the city as well as other events encouraging entrepreneurial activity.
In recent weeks, the University of Leicester announced a £5.1 million Leicester Innovation Hub has been created to foster and accelerate the next generation of innovators and innovations in a dedicated creative incubation space.
The Hub is part-funded by a £2.55 million award from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and will provide an easy to find ‘front door’ to the University’s business-facing activities innovation support, expertise and facilities.
In addition, qualifying Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) based in Leicester and Leicestershire and graduates interested in starting technology businesses, will also benefit from a range of free or heavily subsidised innovation support offered by the University from now until March 2020.
Dr Matthew Higgins from our School of Business said: “The Leicester MBA has been running for over 25 years and we have a reputation for delivering a high quality course which is international in outlook and flexible enough to fit around busy lives. The applied nature of the course means that our students are able to learn of the latest research over the course of a weekend and look to incorporate it in their firm’s operations on Monday morning – it makes for a very dynamic experience.”
Rajinder Bhuhi from our Career Development Service added: “It’s a great time to be a start-up as there is a real buzz in the city and through Leicester Innovation Hub Start up Accelerator we are able to provide support to our graduate entrepreneurs to innovate and build businesses and create jobs. Our start-up weekends have been a collaboration across the city working with local entrepreneurs and hosted at University of Leicester and DMU. Santander Universities funding supported 10 student/graduate businesses to get started last year, these included social enterprises, digital and technology businesses. We are excited about the possibilities of what our budding entrepreneurs can achieve in realising their business ideas here in Leicester.”