News
Wednesday 16 November 2005
Getting a thirst for business
Running your own business gives you a hell of a buzz but it’s a rough ride. That’s what youngsters with a thirst for business heard during a special 'Thirsty Thursday' event held to mark National Enterprise Week.
Nottingham Trent University graduate, Emrys Plant, pulled no punches when he told youngsters at the Nottingham Bluecoat School and Technology College: “It’s very hard and it doesn’t get any easier. It’s certainly not for everyone but it’s a buzz and a challenge and you’ve got to meet that challenge head-on”.
Emrys was one of three young entrepreneurs appearing at the school as part of a joint event organized by the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, alongside the Bluecoat School and Technology College, and Nottinghamshire Business Venture, which operates the Bluecoat Enterprise Village at Wollaton.
Around 80 Year 12 students took part in special enterprise games and challenges and listened to music provided by former University of Nottingham student and DJ Mark Delamere who recreated his Radio 1 show.
Mark has enjoyed phenomenal success in the last two years after winning Best Newcomer in the Radio 1 Student Radio Association Awards. His Carwash Experience show was bought up by national digital station Core and he’s broadcast all over the UK and abroad.
Emrys Plant started up his own menswear-focused clothing label, Pseudo Hero, two years ago after a degree in Design Studies and a spell at The Hive business incubation unit at Nottingham Trent University.
In just 18 months he’s gone from a sole trader selling a T-shirt focused brand, to an employer of six selling a full-range of men’s clothing to 40 different outlets throughout the UK. Walking through Hockley the other day he saw a guy wearing one of his jackets which made him smile but his success has generated more than a few problems.
He said: “As the new orders came in I had no money or materials to make them but I was given a target and a deadline that was helpful. With help from The Princes Trust and seed corn funding from The Hive I got through and delivered my first full-range of clothing.”
Fellow entrepreneur Simone Tett bought into a franchise and launched her own business, Le Club Easpanol, teaching Spanish for children and adults in a fun and entertaining way through songs, games and flashcards.
She said: “When I began my business in 2002 I was a single-parent mum on benefits. I now have six people working with me and we teach children in 18 different after-school clubs in schools and we’re also broadening into the in-school teaching market. I had no business skills whatsoever but I completed Nottingham Business Venture’s new entrepreneur scholarship which has been a great help to me and last year I won their Spirit of Enterprise Award.”
“I believe that learning a second language is inspiring and opens a lot of doors in tomorrow’s world. Spanish is spoken by 400 million people in 23 countries worldwide. For anyone considering becoming an entrepreneur a second language is a very important tool. My advice to the youngsters was to follow their dreams because it is possible to achieve them but it takes a lot of hard work and you often need help along the way.”
National Enterprise Week (November 15-21) is dedicated to stimulating and encouraging enterprising attitudes, culture and values in young people. The week is a range of events around the UK aimed at helping young people to turn their ideas into working realities.
After the school event a new season of the highly-popular Thirsty Thursday sessions, organised by Nottingham’s two universities, took place at The Cabaret Club in Nottingham with speakers including Phil Andrews, McCaulay Sinclair and Johnny Moore.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 2650 or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk.
Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 6589 or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.
