THIS summer, the Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) is launching a new initiative to give Scotland’s students the chance to learn what it takes to run their own business, ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’.
The summer internship programme places university students with an interest in starting their own venture within entrepreneurial companies across a range of sectors.
They will work for the company and have scheduled sessions with the company’s management team to gain insight into how the company runs, its business model, and some of the key skills needed to set up and run a business successfully.
Students can visit the SIE website and apply to a range of internships within successful entrepreneurial companies across Scotland.
Participating organisations include business start-up specialists LaunchBox and the award-winning Robertson Technologies.
Commenting on the launch of the pilot programme, LaunchBox founder and entrepreneur, Lindsay Fielding said:
“At LaunchBox, we’re obviously very focused on helping new entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground quickly – so we’re delighted to be involved with SIE as a mentor business for their internship programme.
“We see it very much as a symbiotic relationship where we gain support to deliver a project which may otherwise not have been completed as quickly, while giving a new entrepreneur an opportunity to create a trusted meaningful relationship with a more established business and helping them engage with the local business community.”
Fiona Godsman, chief executive of SIE, continued:
“SIE is proud to facilitate this initiative and we believe that both students and businesses will learn from each other.
“It’s particularly encouraging that the programme has been embraced by Scotland’s entrepreneurial community, who know what it feels like to be starting out for the first time and want to give them the benefit of their experience. We are immensely grateful for their support.
“At SIE, we turn students into entrepreneurs. Our summer internship programme is just one of our initiatives to help inspire and support the next generation of Scottish entrepreneurs.”
For further information on the Internship Programme, visit www.sie.ac.uk/summerinternships.
SIE is inviting applications from students by 5pm on Tuesday May 17th.
Ends
Pictured: Fiona Godsman, CEO of the Scottish Institute for Enterprise.
Press Enquiries:
Scott McKellar, marketing communications manager
Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE), Top Floor, 11 Southpark Terrace, Glasgow, G12 8LG
Tel: 0141 330 8788 Email: s.mckellar@sie.ac.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
About SIE
Established in 1999, the Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) aims to foster a culture of entrepreneurship among students in Scottish universities by equipping them with the enterprise skills, and providing the support and resources for students to start up and grow their own business or social enterprise.
Funded by the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Enterprise, SIE works with all nineteen of Scotland’s higher education institutions to increase the number of students who consider entrepreneurship a real career option during and after their studies.
A dedicated team of SIE advisors help students discover their entrepreneurial talent through hands-on learning opportunities, activities and events which are delivered through a network of student Interns and enterprise managers located on campus.
SIE also provides ongoing advice once a business has started trading and commercialisation support for ventures which have the potential to become high growth businesses.
Fifteen per cent of students who contact SIE go on to form a business and of those, up to 20 per cent have the potential to be high growth. In the last ten years, SIE has supported the filings of 63 patents and 24 trademarks. Many companies that receive patent funding go on to develop international patent portfolios in Europe, Japan, USA and elsewhere.
SIE’s vision is to be recognised as experts in entrepreneurial education within the higher education sector in Scotland.
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Scott McKellar
Phone: 0141 330 8788
Email: s.mckellar@sie.ac.uk
Website: http://www.sie.ac.uk
