Gihan Amarasiriwardena (centre) will talk about how Ministry of Supply raised over $1M, as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. (Image: Bryce Vickmark Photography)

Loughborough University is celebrating the UK’s largest entrepreneurial campaign – Global Entrepreneurship Week – with a number of events to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs.

With 60 per cent of the UK workforce employed by small businesses, the importance of the Global Entrepreneurship Week has never been greater. Growing enterprise ambition and offering support to those with an idea, the week will inspire budding entrepreneurs to take the plunge of turning their vision in to reality.

The 2013 theme, Take a Step Forward, focuses on inspiring individuals to push forward with their entrepreneurial ideas. The University has a range of activities lined up including a Skype Webinar with Gihan Amarasiriwardena. MIT graduate Gihan undertook sports technology research at Loughborough, prior to founding the clothing brand Ministry of Supply which broke the record for securing funds for fashion on Kickstarter.

Loughborough graduate company Toms Fudge is launching its franchising expansion to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week. The company is offering students from East Midlands universities the opportunity to build their own fudge retail business, under the Toms Fudge brand. To launch their venture, students will need as little as £100, which was how Henry Banks, Tom Mundy and Tom Revill started out. The trio will also be hosting a team building activity for local schools on 18 November.

On 18 November, the second Loughborough Apprentice task will take place – Team Infusion will host their very own Students’ Union night. The first task consisted of five teams taking part in a 24-hour selling task working with an established company from Toms Fudge, Chocolate Alchemy, Sweet Treats and The Yard.

Further events include a social enterprise networking breakfast, a freelancing forum, a forum hosted by Jill Megarry from Jam Industries, the South Africa Challenge Showcase, networking events, a visit to Noble Cars in Leicester and talks from members of the Inspiring Graduates Campaign – including the founder of The Creative Circle, Claud Williams, and the founder of onesixeight:fitness, Becky White, who will also be hosting a team building event for local schools.

View the event programme and book your place now to be inspired!

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