Everything about marketing, growth and running a business
As I prepare to hand over the presidency of Enterprise Educators UK to my friend, colleague, and genuine legend Emilee Simmons, I’ve found myself reflecting on what has been an extraordinary journey.
Six years ago, I found my tribe.
Language is powerful. The words we choose to try to engage and educate in the entrepreneurship field can either invite or alienate.
In today’s rapidly changing world, the need for strong enterprise skills and competences has never been more important.
On 14th January 2025, a dynamic and collaborative event took place at the University of Gloucestershire.
As an eager Arts Foundation student back in 1985, I sat in the new TV and Video Editing suite at Cumbria College of Art and Design (now University of Cumbria) watching coloured pixels slowly building my portrait line by line on a screen. Perhaps I can claim it as an early selfie? It certainly seemed like some strange magic, my first taste of digital innovation. That moment from forty years ago stayed with me and influenced the choices I made later.
After more than a decade of shaping enterprise education at Lancaster University and across the wider sector, Simon is stepping away from his role at Work in Progress, and into a bold new chapter with his wife, Charlotte, and their young family in France.
Higher education is facing one of the most complex and demanding periods in its history. Long viewed as a relatively stable pillar of society, universities are now operating in an environment shaped by geopolitical uncertainty, rapid technological change, shifting labour markets, and growing pressure to demonstrate relevance and impact. These challenges are not abstract; they shape funding models, student mobility, curriculum design, and the very purpose of higher education itself.
During my most recent GETM4 project research secondment, a brilliant professor made the statement, “context is everything”, which resonated with me well beyond the workshop discussion.