Warwick named UK’s most enterprising university

The University of Warwick was named the UK’s most enterprising university in 2013 by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and venture capital firm Find Invest Grow (FIG) as part of the RBS Enterprising Student Society Accreditation (ESSA).

The scheme offers societies the chance to be awarded part of a £61,000 fund as well as being provided professional monitoring from entrepreneurs.

The most successful Warwick societies were Warwick Finance Societies and Warwick PPE.

Warwick Finance Societies was awarded £1,000 for runner-up of Best Use of Funds and £2,500 for Best Membership Engagement.

Warwick PPE was awarded £1,000 for runner-up of Most Innovative Event and £1,500 for runner-up of Best Alumni Engagement.

The scheme also aims to highlight the skills that can be developed by taking part in a society. These include marketing, managing accounts, hosting events and raising funds.

In the past two years, societies at Warwick have been awarded £29,500.

Societies officer Ant Scott said: “One of the main reasons that students here are so entrepreneurial is due to the wide range of societies and sports clubs which are completely student-run.

“Whether it’s choosing to make a charity naked calendar for your sports club, or whether you’re running your first ever society performance, students develop a range of entrepreneurial skills as they make their new ideas a reality.

“Being on a sports club and society exec also allows you to learn to take small risks and learn to cope with mistakes and failures in a safe environment. This is undoubtedly one of the most important skills and lessons for an entrepreneur to learn before they leave the ‘safety net’ of the campus bubble.

“This year we are working very closely with many departments within the University in launching our new Enterprise Partnership. This partnership seeks to give students a co-ordinated approach to enterprise education.”

Senior press and communication manager Kelly Parkes-Harrison stressed that there is “a strong entrepreneurial spirit here at Warwick.”

She pointed out the large number of initiatives aimed at supporting student entrepreneurs: “In addition to our Social Enterprise programme, Warwick has been chosen as a pioneering partner for an initiative to develop and grow social entrepreneurship in HE institutions.

“Other activities include supporting competitions, such as the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards, and Warwick Ventures regularly contributes to entrepreneurship programmes run by departments. The University also supports activities run by the student society Warwick Entrepreneurs.”