About Us

 

“Enterprise, the desire to keep moving, to be trying and accomplishing new things for our own benefit or that of others, is the parent even of speculative, and much more practical, talent”
J. S. Mill

Entrepreneurs Durham (ED) is a student-led society that caters for our wide range of over 1,400 members. For the member whose experience with the society might be to gain an introduction to the idea of entrepreneurship, build their CV and skills we have a number of events from fun to more serious competitions, drinks and networking evenings, skills workshops and speakers, and even the chance to mentor school students in entrepreneurship with our Moneythink Durham programme. Head over to our Events and Projects page for more information on these.

At the other end of the spectrum, one of our members might already be running a business, or seriously thinking about it. For these members we offer a range of support in collaboration with the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre, working tightly with Suzanne Auty who was this year’s National Enterprise Society Champion. We can offer:

• Access to our new enterprise hub – a room in the Science site for like-minded people to meet, work, share their ideas and on top of that, it can be used for access to phones, internet, and even as a business address
• Access to funding through various means, whether it’s the kickstart funding for start-ups, funding for social enterprise, or we can point you in the right direction for regional funding for bigger businesses
• Weekly access to a business advisor
• A chance to meet with visiting entrepreneurs on rotation every three weeks

Take a look at our Support page for more information.

Entrepreneurs Durham was founded in late 2008 by four Durham University students. It has since grown rapidly and now caters to a membership of over 1000 students. In early 2009 ED joined the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs and is now connected to over 60 university entrepreneurship societies nationally, many of whose presidents, most notably those of Oxford and Cambridge Entrepreneurs, provided mentorship during the formation stages of the organisation.

ED’s first exec was chosen in June 2009 and together worked to gather wide ranging support and connections from organisations and stakeholders within the university and the North East. ED has garnered much success since its formation, most notably it has been mentioned in the Independent and Sunday Telegraph. ED exec have represented student entrepreneurs at the House of Commons and Lords, and Durham entries into the Blueprint Business Plan Competition have increased substantially since its foundation. Moneythink Durham started up under the ED umbrella in October 2012, a financial literacy and entrepreneurship volunteer-led mentoring programme, and ED also supports Van Mildert’s Young Persons Programme.

ED boasts a wide range of events, and in the academic year 2012/2013 will be hosting one workshop, one seminar and one competition a term, as well as informal networking drinks every first Sunday of the month for entrepreneurially minded people to get to know each other and provide a friendly support network for their endeavours.

Photo courtesy of Jie Ying Low

ED logo designed by Vipin Tanna