Economic Development Unit
GRADUATE INTO BUSINESS
Visit the Graduate Into Business Website >>
Application will be be open in early 2012
Graduate Into Business is Lisburn’s Programme for Graduate Entrepreneurship. This programme aims to provide support for graduates who have started their own business, or who wish to start up a new business. It is open to all graduates and will contain general and specialist mentoring to help maximise business success.
The range of support mechanisms include specialist mentoring, research services, incubation support and networking events for both aspiring and existing graduate entrepreneurs. The programme is funded by Lisburn City Council and the EU under the Sustainable Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013.
For further information or to express your interest please contact the Council's delivery agent Aisling Owens, Lisburn Enterprise Organisation on 028 9266 1160 or email aisling@lisburn-enterprise.co.uk
- Council Promotes Graduate Entrepreneurship in Lisburn
- Programme Launch: Ambition, Attitude and Altitude
Photos from this year's Fly or Die event
Finalists of the 2011 'Fly or Die' event, Emma Nicholl (Tailored Ink Publishing), Darren Porter (3D Animation & VFX), Gareth Haughey (Bad Banana T-Shirts), Grainne Phillips (Little Green Allotments) with Winner Samantha Moore (Samantha Moore Silversmith) and 'dragons' Alderman Jim Dillon, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, Andrew Robinson (Boomer Industries) and Philip Bain (Shredbank Ltd).
PROGRAMME COMPONENTS
The Graduate into Business incorporated a number of different offerings including events, enterprise awareness activities and one-to-one mentoring for entrepreneurs delivered over a twelve month period. The programme also launched a 'Fly or Die' competition in which five local graduate entrepreneurs had the opportunity to pitch their business idea in a bid to win £1,000. Key programme outputs include fifteen new start up graduate businesses set up, with thirty-one new jobs proposed, business planning sessions with seven existing local businesses owned and managed by graduates, £230,245 of investment made by the fifteen businesses already started.
TAILORED MENTORING
Over 340 hours of mentoring was offered to thirty clients in a range of subject areas. At the outset of engagement with the Lisburn Graduate into Business Programme, each participant was assessed and a list of mentoring priorities identified. The number of hours offered to each participant ranged from 2 to 27 and averaged 11.4.
2010 PROGRAMME KEY OUTPUTS
- 30 Participants
- 2 Loan Fund Offers
- 20 Business Start Ups
- 28 New Jobs Created
- £180,000 Investment by new Businesses
Find out what happened at this year's 'Fly or Die' Competition
Judges with Fly or Die winner Victoria Miller, from Molly's Parlour.