As part of Kent Business School’s philanthropically-funded ASPIRE Project which aims to equip students with the skills they need to start a business, KBS has appointed business start-up expert, Adam Smith, as the ASPIRE project’s Entrepreneur in Residence.
Adam will be working with University of Kent students, on the Business Start-Up Journey (BSUJ), an extra-curricular educational programme of events, workshops and activities designed to support the development of student business start-ups at the University of Kent, providing practical support and advice in business set up, development and more.
Adam holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters in Business Project Management and set up his own management consultancy business, growing it to employ 50 staff in 8 offices across 3 countries, which he sold in 2003. Adam has now diversified into angel investing in start-up companies across the IT, hospitality, art investment and retail industries.
His Canterbury-based business has clients in start-up ventures, new product launches, and benefit from expertise in business strategy, mergers and acquisition, and management consultancy. He has enjoyed investing and mentoring in multiple businesses to launch in marketplaces across the world.
ASPIRE (Accelerator Space for Innovation and Responsible Enterprise) will be a specially designed workspace, based in the new building shared by Kent Business School and the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science (SMSAS). The project will provide dedicated space and hands-on support to help students develop commercial and social enterprise ideas with help from successful entrepreneurs. It is hoped that Adam’s contribution to the project will be invaluable to the future business pioneers currently studying at the University of Kent.
If you are a student at the University of Kent and are interested in participating in the Business Start-Up Journey, you are invited to attend the Business Start Up Day, happening on 16 November 2016 at the Medway Campus and 23 November 2016 at the Canterbury Campus. Register now.