The 10th Annual National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) conference took over the Sibson Building the weekend of the 23 & 24 February, offering students an immersion into the world of entrepreneurship and start-up business.<\/p>\n
Kent Business School Dean, Professor Martin Meyer,<\/a> welcomed delegates to the conference.<\/p>\n More than 400 delegates enjoyed some 25 unique talks, workshops and panel discussions over the weekend, which was run by NACUE<\/a> and hosted by KBS\u2019 ASPIRE<\/a>, welcoming international speakers and students from 28 universities across the UK.<\/p>\n The conference\u2019s \u2018Change Makers\u2019 theme aligned with Kent Business School\u2019s (KBS) mission of sustainable innovation and developing employable, ethical and responsible graduates, as well as managers and leaders who make a difference.<\/p>\n Speakers and experts covered topics from leadership to investment, marketing to networking. They explored issues such how to inspire ethical future leaders and the value of disruptive business models.<\/p>\n High-profile speakers included the founder of Wildhearts<\/a>, Dr Mick Jackson, co-founder of Monzo Bank<\/a>, Jonas Templestein, and Paul Forkan, co-founder of ethical fashion brand, Gandy\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n Among the experts and speakers were Kent Alumni returning to share their experience including Amy McManus, MD of AM Marketing,<\/a> Oliver Salisbury from Seedrs<\/a>, Alex Souter of Fat Lama<\/a> and Joseph Aina, founder of JMArt Space<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joseph and Oliver are both alumni of our flagship entrepreneurship programme, the Business Start-Up Journey<\/a>, which is run through ASPIRE.<\/p>\n Students on this year\u2019s Journey were amongst those who showcased their businesses over the two days, gaining valuable experience, feedback and sales!<\/p>\n Students from the Kent Marketing Society and Enactus Kent also joined the conference, leading a workshop on leadership, communication and team work.<\/p>\n The weekend was extremely successful with praise from the organisers, speakers and delegates for KBS\u2019 facilities, welcome and focus on entrepreneurship and sustainability.<\/p>\n Speaking afterwards, Professor Meyer said: \u201cIt is wonderful to see so many students being inspired by this conference and the speakers. The theme of Change Makers, fits very well with our mission as a School of sustainable innovation. It was a pleasure to host NACUE.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Learn more about NACUE<\/a> and the support offered to Kent Business School students by ASPIRE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"