Business Talks: Big Networking Night 2023 inspires resilience and perseverance
The event, held at The Village Hotel Portsmouth, provided a platform for guests to connect, exchange ideas, and forge valuable partnerships. Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions, engage in meaningful conversations, and gain fresh insights into the world of entrepreneurship.
Abigail Norman, a second-year Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship student, hosted the event and expertly moderated a panel discussion featuring three local entrepreneurs who volunteer as Entrepreneurs in Residence at the University of Portsmouth. The distinguished panellists included:
David Thomson, CEO of Suada: A seasoned coach consultant and advisor, David shared his expertise in sales and persuasion. His journey from battling childhood trauma, dyslexia and his first business losing out due to Google‘s algorithms to becoming a Napoleon Hill certified instructor and a life coach, served as a powerful source of motivation for all attendees.
Claire Tamplin, CEO of The Mindful Movement Coach: Claire brought a unique perspective to the panel and completely moved the audience with her use of mindful movement. The audience was awed by her ability to overcome losing a child, dyslexia, imposter syndrome and severe struggles with her mental health.
Rachel Lowe, CEO of Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles: Rachel’s remarkable entrepreneurial journey perfectly demonstrated the power of resilience. Rachel’s Destination London became Hamleys best-selling Christmas item in 2004 and yet just six months prior, investment in the very same product was rejected by Dragons Den. Rachel summarised her journey in two key points: Don’t take out a personal guarantee, and always value time over money – you can make more money, but you can never get time with your loved ones back.
Abigail hosted the event with grace and enthusiasm, and she expressed her excitement at the opportunity to bring students and local entrepreneurs together. She said: “My heart is filled with gratitude and joy for the honest panel discussions and for witnessing local businesses and students connecting over courageous conversations as they took on the key messages from the speakers. Experiencing challenges in life is inevitable, but asking for help takes courage and makes us stronger. By showing up wholeheartedly, we deepen our relationships.
“The event reminded us that we are all on this journey of life together, so we should be grateful for one another and respect our differences to overcome adversity."
The University of Portsmouth is committed to supporting entrepreneurship and fostering a culture of innovation within its student body and the local business community. Big Networking Night 2023 was a testament to this commitment, providing a space for budding entrepreneurs to learn, connect, and thrive.
For more information about the event or future opportunities for collaboration, please contact the Business Services and Research Office at [email protected]
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A green revolution begins at Portsmouth’s port
The University is a partner in the SEA CHANGE project, which has been awarded £19.8m from the Zero Emissions Vessels and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI), funded by UK Government and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
The SEA CHANGE project will design, build and operate a ‘shore power’ system across the three busiest berths at Portsmouth International Port. This will allow visiting ferry or cruise ships to turn off their engines when in the port, as they will be able to ‘plug-in’ and use green electricity to run their onboard systems.
The grant will allow the Port to embark on this groundbreaking decarbonisation project with Brittany Ferries, alongside the University of Portsmouth, MSE International, B4T, IOTICS and Swanbarton.
SEA CHANGE has the potential to revolutionise the UK’s maritime sector and assists the wider city’s ambition to reach net carbon neutral by 2030.
Portsmouth ranked in Entrepreneurial Impact league table
The University of Portsmouth has been ranked 31st in an Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking league table for universities published by venture capital investor Octopus Capital.
The league table is calculated according to the most crucial indicators that influence spin-out activity at universities. The wide variation in resources available to each of the universities is taken into account and weighted according to the funding inputs received by each institution.
Portsmouth has risen 49 places since the last report in 2020 and was ranked ahead of many other bigger, research intensive universities, such as Southampton, Manchester, Exeter, Birmingham and Warwick.
Building successful spin-out companies is a matter of patience, so the ranking uses the latest available data from a decade long-period, sourced from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. This approach emphasises long term performance.
Help to Grow Alumni reunion
Our Autumn 'Help to Grow' Alumni reunion was held in one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world! The Kennels is the central clubhouse for all of the Goodwoods Estate's sporting members, and was the perfect place for our alumni to catch up.
'Help To Grow: Management' is a three-month, online and face-to-face practical management training programme, delivered by Portsmouth Business School.
Rosie Boullin-Barrett, Director of Seacat Services Ltd, said: “This course has been really inclusive. For me, it’s so inspiring that the government has decided to help the brilliant people in small businesses who are out there giving it their all.
“The reunion gave me the time and space to focus on the bigger picture of the business again for a few hours and armed me with renewed enthusiasm and clearer direction after meeting with such varied and interesting local business leaders over a relaxed, beautiful lunch."
Find out more about our 'Help to Grow' management programme at www.port.ac.uk/help-to-grow