1-1 Business Guidance

First and foremost, our mentors offer business support in the form of 1-1 mentorship. They all have experience running their own businesses, with different areas of specialty. Whether you are looking for an in-depth breakdown of what you need to do or simply need moral support as you take the big steps, our mentors are there for you.

If you need specialist support, we also work with external mentors who currently work in industry. Our external mentors are funded by the ERDF U Start project for eligible clients.

Available to current students, staff members and recent graduates (3 years).

Freelance Support

Freelancing is a great way to earn money whilst studying as you can focus as much or as little as you want on it. Did you know the average self-employed student earns £253 a month?

With our virtual learning environment ‘Flightpath’, you can work out what you have to offer. The courses have case studies and interactive activities to help you get started. Why not sign up?

The Propeller Hub

The Propeller Hub is our work space based in the Media Factory. We have hot desks and dedicated rental desks, as well as meeting space and kitchen facilities. If you have your own licenses, you can also make use of the Mac Pro.

Working from home can be a big distraction, but you might not be earning enough to rent office space just yet. Social working space is the ideal in between. Our modern workspace houses a growing community of businesses backed up with mentoring, business support and access to UCLan’s facilities & services.

Workshops

Our main offering is the Propeller Enterprise Programme, a series of 4 workshops designed to help you turn a business idea into a reality. These workshops cover all the basics you need to get your business off the ground.

These are then complemented by our Bite-sized Briefings – shorter workshops that focus on specific issues. We also have a Business Growth Series which looks more at the needs of established businesses.

We are always looking for feedback on what workshops you want to see, so please let us know!

UCLan Talent

UCLan Talent is an online freelance portal that allows students and recent graduates (2 years) of the University of Central Lancashire to showcase their work.

It’s not just an online portfolio, but provides opportunities to find work or collaborate with other freelancers. Businesses can either post jobs or search through freelancers’ portfolios until they find someone they would like to work with.

The Propeller Enterprise Award

Twice per year we run the Propeller Enterprise Award. We offer up to £1,000 to help business ideas and early start-ups get off the ground. Open to current students and recent graduates (1 year).

In addition, we also support applications to external competitions and funding bodies, such as the Educate North Awards. For the last two years we have supported the winner of the University Entrepreneurs’ Grant, who both went on to win £1,000 and ongoing support through their pitches.