News | 6 July 2022
From 20th – 24th June, Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship ran its annual CF5 Business Bootcamp empowering students and graduates by equipping them with the tools and confidence to begin their start up journey.
The flagship event supports entrepreneurially minded students and graduates to explore self-employment and business start-up via a weeklong intensive programme of interactive workshops, activities, networking, and pitching. The cohort of 23 students and graduates worked together across the week to support each other, provide feedback, and become a community of new entrepreneurs. The value of start-up networks was demonstrated further during the week when the cohort visited Welsh ICE in Caerphilly to explore the wider entrepreneurial landscape within Wales and learn about further support available for start-ups.
Workshops during the week were facilitated by an array of local business founders, with additional support from Big Ideas Wales role models to support participants in refining their business concepts and developing as entrepreneurs. The invaluable support and development provided during the week culminated in a demo day, allowing participants to practice their pitch decks and exhibit their products to receive feedback before applying for up to £3000 provided by Santander Universities. This year’s keynote speaker, Jamie McAnsh, who has recently climbed to Everest base camp on crutches, closed the week with a motivational talk around resilience, bravery, and getting started with the means at hand – a message which resonated powerfully with the participants.
Student Lou Wild, founder of Rio Wild Design commented, “The CFE CF5Bootcamp was an informative and inspiring intensive week filled with all the information I needed to go forth and create my business. Every session contained takeaways to build on and streamline my thought process. The sessions where we were able to talk to experts and ask questions were supportive and helpful. I know what I’m doing and where I’m going with my next steps, and I feel confident knowing that I have the tools and know-how to deal with the uncertain changes required to create my dream business. Thank you CFE and all those who took part during the week.”
The CF5 Business Bootcamp is one initiative from the Centre for Entrepreneurship, part of a comprehensive program which empowers and enables students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and gain useful skills for a valuable entrepreneurial future. The latest graduate outcomes data for 2021/22 has shown that Cardiff Met University has the highest employability rate in Wales plus data from the HE-BCI annual survey show Cardiff Met having the highest graduate start-up rate in Wales, supporting over 60 new businesses and social enterprises in 2021.
Entrepreneurship Manager at the Centre, Steve Aicheler, added “Starting a business as a graduate can be both terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. We have seen our graduates grow massively in confidence over the week and we are looking forwards to supporting them further as they launch and grow their businesses and social enterprises. We could not do this without the support of the entrepreneurial ecosystem which is flourishing in Wales – a massive thank you to everyone who supported this week.”
For more information about the Cardiff Met University Centre for Entrepreneurship, please visit
www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/entrepreneurship
