For Cole Glover, life has been a whirlwind journey since graduation.

Since leaving Lancaster, Cole has grabbed his opportunities in the entrepreneurial world with both hands.

Cole (BSc Management and Entrepreneurship, 2023, Fylde) runs Upcite, a specialist vintage furniture marketplace.

Building on a passion for antiques and the stories each piece of furniture tells, he has worked from Australia, gained customers throughout the UK and even in France, and appeared in front of the dragons on the BBC show Dragons’ Den. And all this in just two years.

From sideboards to dressing tables – via former church pews and pub benches – Cole’s is a business that combines his long-term love of antiques with his hunger for a challenge and his recognition of the importance of sustainability and the circular economy.

And it is a company that took off during his time studying at Lancaster, when Brian Gregory – head of the Entrepreneurs in Residence network at the University – encouraged him to take his previous efforts ‘flipping’ furniture to a new level.

“I sold furniture in school and that's how I got into the furniture business,” says Cole, who fell in love with Lancaster at an open day, and who still holds a place in his heart for the scenic and nature-filled Bailrigg campus – and its many ducks. “I remember having a Zoom call with Brian and he really pushed me to start the business. I remember being apprehensive, saying ‘I'll do it later’, but he said ‘why not do it now?’

“He really challenged me, and I can really say that if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have started the business. And the course helped me change and innovate my business model.

“Ultimately, Lancaster taught me to trust myself more, to believe in myself. All that encouragement from the teachers and the staff helped me learn that lesson.”

The Entrepreneurs in Residence network continues to impact Cole and his business. He met Victor Gianandrea through the programme and continues to be mentored by him now.

“I speak to him every other day, and working with real businesspeople during my studies taught me so much and prepared me for what I’m doing now,” Cole adds. “One of the biggest things I've learned is the mindset. Business is very up and down in terms of sales. You need to be solid in your mind to run a business.

“For example, I could make loads of sales in one day, then it could be quiet the next day. You need to be comfortable in yourself and be resilient and strong-minded.”

Perhaps surprisingly given the nature of his course and his obvious entrepreneurial skillset, Cole looks back at the accounting models he studied as being among the most important.

“Thanks to those modules, I'm very strong in terms of cash flow and managing money and the business,” he says. “That's such an important life skill of managing your money. I wish I did more of the accounting. It’s invaluable learning how to analyse, how to read the numbers.”

Lancaster also shaped Cole’s attitudes towards sustainability, something he was keen to address having seen so much business furniture simply thrown away in the past.

“Being at Lancaster makes you realise how beautiful sustainability can be, when you see it every day and it makes you want to do more about it,” he adds. “I worked in hotels as well, and you see loads of tables and chairs going into the skip. You want to stop that. Lancaster also has that reuse element, and I always wanted to try and save stuff from landfill. I want to do what I can.”

Cole has honed his business model since graduating. He operated his business remotely while backpacking around Australia, and learned a lot from that, and then had the experience of appearing on Dragons’ Den. Though he did not gain any investment in his operations, it was an invaluable experience nonetheless, and one that has shaped how he works.

“Just the experience of getting feedback from the Dragons was great in itself,” says Cole, who picked up furniture for customers around the UK and in France to take to the studio for his pitch – driving 2,000 miles in a weekend before taking the items back again to their owners. “I don't think it could have been any better, because it's taught me to be dependent on myself. I’ve done all this myself and I don’t need someone else’s money to tell me I’ve done a good job.

“I’ve changed my mindset and been more self-confident and trusting in myself. There have been business tweaks of increasing the margin and considering buying furniture again as well (instead of being solely a marketplace and taking a commission), but the biggest lesson is to be more solid in myself.”

And to those thinking of following in his entrepreneurial footsteps, Cole adds: “You need to really love what you're doing if you’re going to do it for the long term. You'll have days of where you feel rubbish, then more rubbish happens, you’ll get more problems. If you don't love it, you’ll give up. So, find your passion and absolutely go for it.”