Member Article

PKF Cooper Parry celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week

Aspiring entrepreneurs, students, graduates and business people from across the West Midlands joined Birmingham-based PKF Cooper Parry for a programme of activities to celebrate the region’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Global Entrepreneurship Week aims to inspire current and future entrepreneurs through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.

PKF Cooper Parry, the fastest growing accountancy firm in the UK and a trusted adviser to hundreds of entrepreneurs across the region, hosted a series of events to connect participants with potential collaborators, mentors and investors.

The week began with a free workshop for students and young entrepreneurs from Birmingham City University, University College Birmingham and Enactus at the firm’s Edgbaston offices. The event included an inspiring talk from Khushboo Raja, winner of last year’s PKF Cooper Parry Dragon’s Den event, who shared her story and updated the audience on how her bespoke wedding invitation business is progressing.

This was followed by several informative talks, including ‘Presentation and Communication’ by Dan Williams, Head of Sales; ‘Raising Finance and Dealing with Investors’, by Mark Huddlestone, Head of Business Finance at PKF Cooper Parry and ‘The Importance of Networking’ by Jim Thomas from PDW Training.

The session concluded with a talk from PKF Cooper Parry’s CEO, Ade Cheatham on ‘How to be a Leader’ and ‘The Story of an Entrepreneur’ from Brett Critchley, IT Solutions partner, who started a business in his bedroom and ended up selling it for millions.

On Thursday evening, a group of 15 entrepreneurs and guests from the Prince’s Trust attended a dinner in Birmingham. Guest speaker was Mark Hales, chairman of BusinessDesk.com and Founder and Chairman at Oxygen Accelerator.

Speaking about this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week activities, CEO Ade Cheatham said:

“This is the second year we have been a regional partner for Global Entrepreneurship Week and it’s been another really rewarding experience.

“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting some of the region’s entrepreneurs and helping them to connect with potential collaborators, mentors and prospective investors in an informal environment,” added Ade.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is celebrated in 150 countries, with more than 11,000 partner organizations organising a massive 28,363 activities, events and competitions during the week and more than 8,28 million people participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week as attendees, contestants, judges, speakers and more.

Last year in the UK, over 500 partner organisations hosted around 2,500 events that reached more than 340,000 entrepreneurial people across the country.

Global Entrepreneurship Week hosts serve as the lead delegates for their country to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress each March. Cities hosting the GEC have been Kansas City, Dubai, Shanghai, Liverpool, Moscow, Milan and Medellin.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Donna Hill .