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Enterprise Centre will make Manchester a world-class innovation leader
Manchester Business School (MBS) has announced the creation of the Manchester Enterprise Centre (MEC), bringing together entrepreneurship and innovation expertise from across The University of Manchester.
The Centre will become the focus of enterprise activity at the University - research, teaching and executive education - by combining the strengths of the former Manchester Science Enterprise Centre (MSEC), MBS' Incubator, its enterprise programmes and The Institute of Innovation and Research.
Professor Michael Luger, Dean of Manchester Business School, explains:
"By distilling expertise from across the University, the MEC will achieve critical mass and strength in this area. It’s our aim to inspire entrepreneurs and emerging business leaders to combine their talent with rigorous business understanding - so they are able to turn their visions into commercially successful ventures."
He continues:
"The launch of the MEC firmly positions MBS as a world-leader in the drive to advance economic development through the transfer of knowledge regionally, nationally and internationally."
The MEC will be headed up by Lynn Sheppard, former director of MSEC. During her tenure at MSEC, the team developed a wide curriculum of enterprise education which is available to students University-wide (from first year undergraduate to doctoral) and its business creation activities have successfully launched over 50 new companies in the last five years.
She said:
"The opportunity to now work within MBS on the University’s enterprise agenda is very exciting and will allow us to build on the foundations already in place. The UK government has continued to stress the importance of enterprise and we aim to continue to develop innovative programmes at the leading edge of enterprise education thereby creating new businesses and exceptionally well-trained graduates."
Research activity at the MEC will be lead by a new Chair in entrepreneurship funded by Eddie Davies OBE, owner of Bolton Wanderers FC.
MBS is already committed to supporting emerging and growing businesses through its Incubator, which has recently been working behind the scenes with BBC2’s Dragons’ Den on the viability of contestants’ business plans.
For more information on Manchester Business School's involvement in the project please contact:
Kate Jeffery
kate.jeffery@mbs.ac.uk
0161 275 7090
