Coventry University, Coventry Start Up Café
Contact Details: |
Dr Gideon Maas, Co-Director Institute of Applied Entrepreneurship, Institute of Applied Enterprise |
Type of Project: |
The Café is the result of a refurbishment and re-purposing of a restaurant on campus. There were plans to remodel an existing restaurant on campus into a modern coffee bar and it was agreed to use this opportunity to convert it into a start-up café. |
Start/End Date: |
Opened September 2006 |
Background & Context
Further details about the Institute of Applied Enterprise at Coventry
The Institute is standalone; it does not belong to the Careers Service and reports directly to a Pro-Vice Chancellor.
Of the Institute's 16 staff, 14 work on a location independent basis - i.e. they don't have individual office spaces. These have been created by Coventry in order to free up space across the campus. It has resulted in cost savings and an increase in productivity. There is an Enterprise Committee with representatives from faculties and institutes that meets every 6 weeks - campus-wide activity. Coventry's VC is very pro enterprise (enterprise is written into the corporate strategy) giving strong support from the senior management of the University.
Part of their remit is work on activities that stimulate enterprise They are selling a lifestyle and it's not sector specific. They concentrate on applied research, business services, culture and awareness building. The education base is from undergraduate to the Masters programmes. They also offer modules to students from all faculties (Add+Vantage system). The Institute supports business start ups of varying sizes, small and big.
The Institute is involved in projects in China and Africa - and it's the technology that lets this happen.
Gideon suggests that language has been a problem in the past, with some people being threatened by the word 'Entrepreneurship' -thinking that 'it's all about big businesses', and not being able to relate it to their own experiences.
The Enterprise activity has been runner up in Times Higher Enterprise awards two years running. This year they have been awarded Midland Business Award for the entrepreneurial university of the year.
Coventry University as a whole is very supportive of enterprise. The University wanted a space for students, alumni, staff and anyone else in the wider community who might be interested in an enterprise environment. The University offers a wide range of services in different locations on campus and there are also many other services available from other providers both at regional and national level.
The original Start-Up Café concept was invented by Professor Remi Walbaum (EHL); together with Professor Jane Royston (Create Switzerland) they implemented it in the Swiss entrepreneurship market. The Start Up Café concept at Coventry came from an ex-Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Director of Entrepreneurship, Education and Internationalisation at Coventry, David Gillingham, now Dean at Kaplan Holborn College. The concept of the Start-Up Café was explained to Coventry's Vice-Chancellor who immediately agreed that it would be a good idea to establish it on Coventry's campus and allocated a budget for this purpose.
Coventry University has agreed with Professor Royston of Create Switzerland to expand and exploit this concept for the benefit of entrepreneurship education in other markets. The start-up concept forms part of the Network of International Business Schools (NIBS).
What is it?
The Start-Up Café is a virtual and physical space that provides for the education and support of entrepreneurs. The physical start-up café at Coventry is a wireless, technology-rich café with a variety of furniture that can be arranged in a number of ways for a number of purposes - including social, networking and wider enterprise activities. The multi-use space provides signposting to services from other providers both at the regional and national level with attractive posters on the walls, brochures of each service, and access to the start-up café website via fixed computers and wireless broadband.
The idea behind the space is that students can 'Meet, Drink, Think'. They can discuss the future as entrepreneurs, build contacts and network. The Start-Up Café integrates a physical space with a virtual space enabling the activity to take place on a global scale.
What happens in the space?
The 100 capacity space at Coventry is an attractive glass-sided area extremely suitable as a coffee bar but it has neither office nor training space adjacent to it. Because the various start-up services are dispersed across the campus the physical café provides signposting to all of these with attractive posters on the walls, brochures and access to the start-up café website via fixed computers and wifi. The Café is a hub for awareness-building.
The prime focus is creating business - there is a growing tradition of Coventry students being actively involved in enterprise. Gideon and his colleagues try, with the help of facilities such as the Start-Up Café, to push students into networking with the ultimate aim of creating businesses.
The Institute of Directors has run master classes inside the space for students on a regular basis. The Café also acts as a venue for the Student in Business Society, enterprise activities and special entrepreneurship events. The Catering department looks after the catering aspects of the start up Café.
