Through talking to students and her fellow EIRs, Sue has been able to reflect on her own practice as an entrepreneur whilst receiving invaluable unbiased, outside feedback on her business. Overall, the experience of becoming an EIR has been unquestionably positive for Sue and her business.

In 2014, Sue participated in the Consultancy Challenge programme which took place partly at Saatchi & Saatchi, London, and here at Lancaster University. The programme provided our EIRs with the chance to gain insight into the innovative thinking behind one of the world’s leading agencies and, in many cases, gave helpful tips and ideas for strategic changes that could be applied to their businesses. It was CEO Kevin Robert’s presentation that would change the way Pendle Doors operates. Sue went away with several creative thinking techniques, such as role play and blue sky thinking, as well as the idea to implement a 90 days planning horizon to help make her company more efficient.

Sue enjoys access to a network of like-minded business leaders through being a member of the Entrepreneur in Residence community. She enjoys the opportunity to share advice on issues that are familiar to entrepreneurs across a wide range of different businesses.

Renwick believed that if he were to truly understand that process he should engage personally in testing and validating his entrepreneurial premises. His preferred approach was to start with a little and hopefully, create a lot. That’s because his interest has been to empower entrepreneurs. In pursuit of that objective, he has consistently unlocked the synergies between what he knew, who he knew, and the urgent needs and desires of various market segments.

He has monetized problem-solving by building businesses in the disciplines of performance improvement, indoor environmental health and wealth management. He continues to provide strategic leadership to those enterprises, Achievement Resources, Universal Decontamination Services (UDECON) and Prism Wealth Management.

In his view, Lancaster University and the Entrepreneur in Residence community provide an excellent platform for helping further their mutual objective of accelerating entrepreneurial success. The opportunity to inspire, inform and support students and entrepreneurs in many parts of the world holds great appeal.

Exploratory thinking is a much needed component of entrepreneurship, alongside critical thinking and data analysis. It's really rewarding to be part of the process of challenging students to move outside the accepted ‘rules of business’, to expand their field of view.”

Jane continues to work closely with Lancaster University to understand the impact of workplace gender diversity on company decision making and social impact, as part of her volunteer role for Northern Power Women.

Brian has been at the forefront of an innovative new teaching model that sees entrepreneurs co-create learning events in collaboration with module tutors. He recently delivered his first complete lecture, bridging practice and theory, for which he received ovations from attending students.

He takes inspiration for teaching from the experience of setting up his own business 14 years ago. Safety Management UK's growth is undeniable; it is now the largest provider of fire risk assessment software in the UK.

Brian is a staunch supporter of the work done by the University's Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, and he has attended a variety of meetings with external stakeholders, such as the Employee Engagement Taskforce. As well as bridging the relevance gap between theory and practice, Brian wants to provide a practical interface between the University and Small Businesses.

Gill has taken part in several of the programmes on offer such as LEAD to Innovate (L2i) and GOLD. Furthermore, she has been a regular attendee of the Masterclass series and has spent time teaching entrepreneurship students.

Being part of the network of entrepreneurs, with the opportunity to share issues and experiences, has helped Gill to develop the confidence required to make her business more robust. Gill also cites the exposure to relevant and applicable insights during masterclasses as a benefit to being an EIR and a helpful reference point when her business comes under pressure.

During her time working closely with the University, Gill has met peers with “infectious enthusiasm” for the power of small businesses and has learned about LEAN manufacturing, which she has embraced and successfully implemented at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses.

This was an eye-opening experience for him. The mantra of ‘nothing is impossible’ rang true for virtually every student he met and talked to about his or her business ideas. The students’ ideas and their conviction to succeed was truly inspiring. For every reason given for them not to pursue an idea, they had ten other reasons why they should. This kind of creativity is often 'beaten' out of people in the business world and it reminds us that very often, before success, there is failure and its OK to fail as long as you reflect and take lessons from it.

The additional ad hoc courses provided by the University are excellent, as are the talks with high profile people from the business world who are happy to share their life lessons and experience. All of these aim to help think about your business in a different way and to remain innovative in everything that you do.

To this day Anshul remains proud of his association with Lancaster University and hopes that this will continue long into the future.