Sustainability Start-up School

The programme formally opened with an in-person event in April for SRUC students part of the inaugural cohort and featured three award-winning entrepreneurs: Lauren Leisk (founder of Foodilicious), Tommy Dale (SRUC alumus and founder of Forth Resource Management), and Jackie Brierton MBE (Chief Executive of GrowBiz). 

Throughout launch day students had the opportunity to work on their business ideas alongside learning more about the range of services provided by two of Scotland's leading business support organisations, Business Gateway and Firstport. Finally, we had speakers from our partner, the highly-respected law firm Morton Fraser to help our student navigate the typical legal matters faced by those embarking on a new venture. 

Following launch day, a series of webinars were run by the Enterprise Academy to support students to continue to develop themselves and their sustainable business ideas and in doing so enhance their personal and professional development. 

“It’s never been more important to develop creative and innovative solutions to our increasing environmental and social challenges. We are delighted to welcome such an exciting line up of speakers and organisations to our inaugural Sustainable Start-up School and in doing so inspiring our growing community of student entrepreneurs and providing them with the necessary support and guidance to make a difference in the world.” - Dr Carol Langston, Director of the Enterprise Academy

"[I liked] Hearing real stories of start-up and successful and failed businesses. Very interesting real stories of start-up and successful and failed businesses hearing their stories, listening to their advice and mistakes to avoid. Knowing that it is okay to make mistakes and that you can recover from it.” -2023 Participant