Creative Entrepreneur 2014

2014 was Salford Business School’s Year of the SME and what a year it was! Our Creative Entrepreneur – Next Generation event was a culmination and celebration of this amazing year and the creative ability and ingenuity of our SMEs locally and internationally.

We opened the doors of our cutting edge showcase space at our MediaCityUK campus to all students, staff and friends on 03 December 2014 from 9.00am to 5.00pm. This was an exciting showcase of masterclasses, panel sessions, installations and performances that will inspire, entertain and inform entrepreneurs and the next generation of entre and intrapreneurs in the digitally-connected economy.

More information and a video of the 2014 event can be found below.

Creative Entrepreneur 2014 Video


Salford Business School - 2014 Year of the SME

Aside from the video above, there’s also some Storify Highlights of Creative Entrepreneur 2014

2014 Programme

The Egg Reception, MediaCityUK

Event starts 9.00am in the Egg Reception

  • 9.00am – 9.25am Event registration and networking
  • 9.25am – 9.40am – Event opening address in the Egg reception – then move to Digital Performance lab

Digital Performance Lab

Hosts 120 people in this cutting edge theatre featuring one of the largest HD screens in Europe.
These sessions will also be recorded and streamed into the reception space.

  • 9.45am  – 10.30am: Keynote – Dom Burch – One of the UK’s leading thinkers on social media strategy, Dom is the Senior director for marketing innovation and new revenue at Asda. He is a ‘social innovator’ and brings the spirit of creative thinking to bear on this role. Dom will share some incredible and often hilarious insights about creative entrepreneurialism from his own unique and brilliant perspective to open the event in style.

Digital Performance Lab

  • 1.30pm – 2.45pm: Tech Angels – Dragons Den pitch event –  Web Apps UK are running acompetition with the University of Salford to offer prizes totalling £1500 for the right creative business ideas.  This Dragons Den pitch event culminates the competition and for the winners – prize money and potential access to £2,000 per month, premises and business support.
  • 3.30pm – 4.30pm: Handles (social media play) – Handles is a play examining the consequences of lives lived through Facebook and Twitter, exploring issues of privacy, intimacy, trust and image. Handles is by local writer Tom Mason (@totmac) working with the University of Salford performance students. The play is split into a number of sections. Each story is connected, although it’s not one tale told from start to finish; rather glimpses into the more unseemly aspects of social media. The play will allow the audience to think about social media in new ways and question the gap between the online world and reality. To guarantee your seat for Handles, you should register for the whole event and alsoregister here for Handles.

Egg Suite – this space tucked neatly behind the Christie tiles is designed for discussion hosts an intimate audience of 40 people with a large screen

  • 10.30am – 11.30am: Online privacy & Information security – Featuring XyOne for an interactive workshop and demonstration, hosted by Dr. Maria Kutar.
  • 11.30am – 12.15pm:  User Experience – Salford Business School are working with Sigma to develop an incredible new Sensmitter technology that can digitally detect and respond to its environment. Dr. David Kreps will host this discussion and demonstration.
  • 12.15pm – 1.00pm:  Online Retail – A panel session here hosted by Simon Wharton (Founder of Pushon) about Online retail leading up to Christmas and will feature Michael Cropper (Contrado Digital),  Alex Moss (Founder of Firecask), Tom Weeks (VE Interactive), Andy Thompson (Head of Online Retail for Iceland Foods).
  • 1.30pm – 2.30pm: Digital Marketing (SEO / social media) – Panel session chaired by Dr. Aleksej Heinze and featuring Gareth Hoyle (Founder, Marketing Signals), Rebecca Rae (Reason Digital), Lee McAteer  (AmeriCamp) , Ben Barker (Head of Search for Firecask) and Phil Morgan (Delineo).
  • 2.30pm – 3.30pm: The Creative & Entrepreneurial Balance – Artist and Entrepreneur, Andrew Brooks presents some of his incredible digital imagery and discussed striking the balance between artistic practise and ambition.
  • 3.30pm – 4.30pm: Next Generation Entrepreneurs – CIMA present a presentation workshop in how to turn ideas into a reality by understanding legal matters, Tax issues, Contracts, Employment Law and Case studies – everything you will need to succeed.
  • 4.30pm – 4.45pm: The Internet of Things: Pink Jumpers and Hungarian Eggs in Digital Spaces – Dr. Maria Edith Burke presents an exciting example of how a research project can engage and contribute to the high street. The session will include discussions about how the work impacted on a global charity.

Egg Reception and other open areas (all day)

  • Innovation Bazaar – Explore a range of posters showcasing innovation and creative business ideas on our multi-touch tables, hosted by Dr. Gordon Fletcher. Vote for your favourite over Twitter, simply tweet @DBCentreSalford #IBvote and the unique hashtag to be found on the poster. We’d love to hear your feedback so add as much comment as the characters will allow!
  • Kickstarting the Ceramic Camera –  Angela Tait & Ian Clegg give us a live demo of the ceramic camera and tapping into the history and entrepreneurial use of photography and the use of Kickstarter to fund entrepreneurial and creative ideas.
  • Live streaming sessions – bask in the goodness of the creativity of the Egg reception whilst the main sessions are live streamed onto our Christie tile wall.
  • Google Glass – Find out how this works, what it can do and see it broadcasting to our high resolution Christie Tile Wall at 1.30pm – 2.45pm
  • Speed networking sessions – hosted by Rachel Martin and Marina Hristova. Two sessions over the course of the day (1.00pm – 1.30pm and 2.45pm – 3.30pm) are devoted to official speed networking sessions. This could be the moment that changes your life!
  • Challenge Academy – During the lunch session 1.00pm – 1.30pm, there will be an opportunity for you to network with business owners and meet some of the members of the Challenge Academy teamfrom this international project. This project is applying a crowd-sourcing concept to foster collaboration between companies and academia. You will be some of the first people in the UK to see how this project might help you!
  • Green Screen Studios – Studio manager Ash Tidball transports you to far-flung places using our State of the Art studios. Find out how as entrepreneurs, you could benefit from green screen technology. 0.900am-12.00pm

Stands (Egg reception) – 9.00am – 4.45pm

  • Business Innovation Projects & Unite – Find out how you as a student or company can benefit from student internships, many of which are paid through our Unite scheme.
  • Media Psychology and Eye tracking demonstration
    The more we understand about how people interact with media, the more we can realise its opportunities and potential. The Media Psychology team at the University of Salford teach the UK’s first (and only!) MSc in Media Psychology. The team also offers user-testing, user-experience and social media analysis consultancy services. Visit our stand to find out more and participate in our eye-tracking demonstration.
  • Student Life – From CV writing to career support, student life will help you answer the question, what next and how to get there.
  • Enterprise at Salford – Find out how we can help to support you in developing your enterprise skills and/or business start-up, thought one to one advice, funding opportunities, skills development sessions and much more.
  • Challenge Academy – Find out about how we are applying crowd-sourcing for collaboration between companies and academia.

2014 Expert Speakers

We are proud to announce that the following industry experts, entre and intrapreneurs will be present and play a part in our masterclasses, installations, networking and panel sessions:

Dom Burch – Senior director for marketing innovation and new revenue ASDA
Dom has worked for Asda since September 2002 and has held a number of comms and marketing roles in that time, including head of PR and head of social. He graduated from Leeds Met in 1998 with a degree in Public Relations, had a short summer intern stint at Saatchi & Saatchi before joining Green Flag Motoring Assistance, then Direct Line two years later. He is a member of the CIPR’s social media panel, and was a contributing author to Share This Too, the social media handbook for PR professionals. He volunteers with BCB 106.6FM in Bradford, and supports Reading Football Club (for his sins). Dom will share some incredible and sometimes hilarious insights about creative entrepreneurialism from his own unique and brilliant perspective.

Lou Cordwell (CEO and founder of Magnetic North www.mNatwork.com)
Chair of FutureEverything (www.futureeverything.org) and Board Member of Greater Manchester LEP, Lou started her career working for a number of large multinational ad agencies including JWT before founding digital design company magneticNorth in 2000. Since then she has led the business from its original team of four to a now internationally renowned company and brand. Over the last fourteen years magneticNorth have created an impressive collection of digital firsts and amassed an enviable client list that includes BBC, Google and the City of Manchester. magneticNorth (or mN to its nearest and dearest) operates across a broad spectrum of digital design ranging from large scale digital archive projects to on-street digital wayfinding. The unifying signature across all of mN’s work is its focus on delivering mass engagement of people in new and interesting ways. A former IoD ‘Manchester Young Director of the Year’. Lou is a champion for women working in the tech industry and regularly speaks at events aimed at encouraging more women to consider a career in the sector.

Rebecca Rae (Reason Digital)
Experienced Strategist, planner, marketeer, art director and head of social media Rebecca was voted in the ‘Top 30 women under 30 in digital’ – The Drum 2012. She excels in creative strategy in digital marketing with an emphasis on social media and content. She looks at how digital can integrate with an overall brand strategy, incorporating media spend, digital best practice, SEO and creative implementation. She’s lectured in marketing, branding and creative concepting; worked with top clients creating integrated strategies; spoken at conferences and provided comment for radio and magazines on technology, the web and social media.

Anna Moss, (Firecask)
Anna Moss is a Director at @FireCask, an online marketing and WordPress development agency based in the heart of Manchester. For her sins, Anna used to work as a Commercial Property Solicitor before entering the digital world in 2010. She oversees the Content, Outreach and Social Media side of FireCask and also heads up business development. Anna works extremely closely with a number of Manchester based charities providing them with free consultancy and fundraising assistance and also takes on a number of students throughout the year in order to help them progress their skills in business and online marketing. Anna won Young Businesswoman of the Year 2012 in the Women in Business Awards and was one of three winners in the international Top Women in SEO Poll 2013.

Nancy Dykins (Delineo)
Nancy set up her first company, a Mac training business, in the late 80’s, aged just 20 at a time when Apple computers were first breaking in to the studios of advertising and design businesses. The business grew quickly as an appetite to ‘come off the board’ and switch to Macs grew apace. This business has now become part of the Soho Editors group. Nancy went on to set up and build Orchard, Manchester’s first dedicated freelance and permanent recruitment agency to the design and advertising industries, before selling in 2002 with offices in Manchester and Leeds. Since this time, Nancy has been working within an advisory capacity, working with agencies in the region, most recently with Delineo and is also a Director ofShootCutGo, a video production company, specialising in the new technology of personalised video.

Naomi Timperley (Director of 4Hub)
Naomi is a whirlwind of energy who has the ability to motivate, inspire and lead others in any environment. Director of 4Hub CIC and Social Media Boom and creator of My Big Social Idea, Naomi previously ran a youth enterprise and employability company called Enterprise Lab which was a support force for young people, helping them become more employable and give them an entrepreneurial mindset. Naomi is a National Careers Week Ambassador for Greater Manchester, advisory panel member for the Juice Academy (Social Media Apprenticeships), Member of the UN Women Greater Manchester Network, Trustee of 360 Youth and board member for Careers Academy at Trafford College. Dragons Den survivor Naomi Timperley was the UK Director of national events company Baby Loves Disco. Having successfully used word of mouth, grass roots marketing, PR and social media to spread the word worldwide about Baby Loves Disco she now works to advocate the use of these mediums of marketing a small business. Naomi also loves social media and trains, speaks and blogs about it!

Tom Cheesewright
Tom Cheesewright is the founder of applied futurism practice Book of the Future, helping organisations to see, share and respond to a coherent vision of tomorrow. His clients include Daisy PLC, Enfield Borough Council, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, LG, the NHS, Nikon and Sony Pictures. Tom followed a degree in Mechatronic Engineering with 14 years in the tech industry, working with global brands such as BT, EE and IBM, and subsequently founded a series of technology-driven companies. Most recently he co-founded venture-backed big data analytics start-up CANDDi (http://canddi.com), of which he remains a shareholder. Tom is a frequent presence on TV and radio, appearing as the resident futurist on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and across the BBC from the Breakfast sofa to World Business Report, and as a regular contributor to 5live and Radio 4.

Jamil Khalil (Wakelet)
Former Airbus exec, Salford graduate and founder of the amazing Social Curation platform . Entrepreneur. Loves technology and clean design.

Gareth Hoyle (Marketing Signals)
A well-known and respected member of the global search community, Gareth frequently speaks on matters relating to organic search and specifically links – building, analysing and removing them.Gareth delivers a laid back and informative style of speaking with clear takeaways and an open and honest approach to the subjects in general.Angel investor – Co-founder of . Founder of . Lover of all things internet, all-round good egg

Steve Kuncewicz (Bermans)
Head of IP and Media at Bermans, specialising in legal issues relating to Social Media , and working mainly in the Media, Creative, Advertising, PR, Marketing and Digital Sectors and  is a frequent media commentator on IP, Media and Social Media issues to outlets including BBC Breakfast and News At 10, ITV News, Sky News, BBC Radio 4 and 5 and the Financial Times. His first Book, “Legal Issues of Web 2.0 and Social Media”, was published in June 2010, and his second, “Legal Issues Of Corporate Communication in the Online World”, in July 2011 Steve is a Board Member of ProManchester and co-Chairman of Creative ProManchester, working tirelessly to build links between the financial and professional services sector and creative industries in the region. Steve is also a member of the Council of Manchester Law Society and the National Law Society, a Board Member of the Manchester Publicity Association, a Director of Manchester Creative Studio, a Trustee of NOISE Festival, a Board Member of Rochdale Development Agency and a proud Ambassador for Forever Manchester.

Tech Angels panel
Malcolm Purdie, Head of Commercial Services at University of Salford
Malcolm heads the University of Salford’s Commercial Services team and is responsible for the commercial development and generation of revenues from the expertise base. He is a director of the University’s corporate venturing business, USE Ltd, and of Optimum Imaging Limited – a high technology spin out. He has assisted in the creation of several spin out companies (Incanthera, Acoustic Sensing Technologies, etc.) and other ventures (Salvalco, Oncascan, etc.) based upon the exploitation of University intellectual property. Prior to this he worked in the aerospace and automotive sectors developing and incorporating new technologies and designs into new and existing products.

Craig Dean (Chief Executive, Web Applications Group)
Craig Dean is Chief Executive of the Web Applications Group, President of the Oldham Chamber of Commerce, Director of Oasis Community Learning, a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer and Technical Trainer, and a gifted entrepreneur. Craig is committed to expanding the growth of the tech sector in the North – this ambition is exemplified by the formation of WA:UK Tech Angels, an angel investor with a difference, in May 2014. More importantly, he is a dedicated mentor to many talented young software engineers. Craig lives in Chadderton with his wife, Vivienne, and his two Labradors, Bea and Bo.

Gordon Pearce (Co-Founder and Company Secretary,Web Applications Group)
Gordon Pearce, known simply as ‘G’ to his friends, is a highly talented software developer and entrepreneur. Gordon co-founded Web Applications UK with Lee Tudor in 2000, when they wrote the first version of our now-flagship reservation system, Traveller. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional specialising in database design and a Microsoft Technology Specialist in SQL Server. He lives in Littleborough with wife Mirella, daughter Jessie, and cat, Stoof.

Tom Mason (Delineo)
Some know him only as @totmac. Head of Social Media for @delineo, inspiring speaker and writer of Handles, our social media play. At work, Tom is responsible for the social media team at Delineo and, in 2013, was shortlisted for the Young Social Media Communicator of the Year award in the UK Social Media Awards. Outside the office, he’s published author and an established performer in the local literature scene.

XyOne Cyber Security
Stephen Robinson (Managing Director)

Stephen  is Managing Director and founder of the Xyone group and his career in the digital industries spans over 15 years. Upon recognising the high risk from the threat of attacks to SMEs, Stephen launched the Xyone Cyber Security division of the business in 2012, leading a team of highly qualified cyber security specialists, dedicated to the provision of cutting edge services. Stephen is Chair of the North West Cyber Security Cluster which has brought together like-minded businesses and academic input from Security Lancaster, one of 11 Centres of Excellence in the field of Cyber Security research. The cluster tackles the growing rise of cyber risk, working to form a collective response and raise the profile of the North West of England as a leading area for cyber security services.

Zain Javed (Head of Penetration Testing Services)
Zain Javed is Head of Penetration Testing at Xyone Cyber Security. A Certified Ethical Hacker and MSc in Cyber Security, Zain leads a team of experts to conduct high level penetration testing and vulnerability assessments, using industry best practice. Zain frequently represents the company at events and in the media and is a regular at UK Fast round tables, discussing the current issues facing information security with other industry professionals, including a BBC North West Tonight hacking demonstration. Zain intends to continually develop and improve his cyber security skills to be constantly prepared to challenge the ever-evolving cyber threat.

Simon Wharton (PushON)
Managing Director of PushON, Award winning online marketing agency. Founder of SASCon, THE expert online marketing conference. Rabid Nottingham Forest fan.

Michael Cropper (Contrado Digital)
Michael Cropper is the Managing Director of Blackburn based digital marketing agency Contrado Digital. He has experience working with national and multi-national brands in a wide range of industries, helping them achieve awesome results online. Contrado Digital has been shortlisted in the finals for 8 categories across 4 awards within the past 12 months including the Chartered Institute of Marketing Northern Awards, the Prolific North Awards, the Red Rose Awards and The Bibas.

Tom weeks (VE Interactive)
Tom is Director of Education and Charities at Ve Interactive, the global leader in website performance. With its proprietary software suite, powerful technology and data driven insight combine to deliver an additional dimension of customer acquisition, engagement and conversion. Previously, Tom worked with UK Universities and recruiters on their digital marketing activity, advising them on a portfolio of digital platforms designed to drive high quality traffic to their respective websites. With a wealth of knowledge on online activity Tom is keen to help all industries become more digitally savvy.

Andy Thompson (Iceland Foods)

Andy is a digital professional with nearly 15 years on the client side of marketing. Working in a range of sectors, from the motor industry to the battery world, from accounting to the spa world no sector has been off limits! The past 15 years has seen him have a hand in promoting the 1st ever live motor auction site, creating the 1st website of the UK’s only natural hot spa and the advising a number of the UK’s largest firms on their social customer service strategies. But always fighting the battle of proving digital to traditional marketing mind sets. Andy now heads up the Online and Digital marketing for Iceland Foods. For the past 18-months he has been busy setting up a new digital team whilst being responsible for creating and driving forward the company’s digital marketing strategy through multiple digital channels. The work that he has done to promote the Iceland eCommerce launch with a leading media agency has seen numerous awards shortlists and more importantly for his bosses…a good few million in sales.

Alex Moss (Firecask)
Alex Moss is a Director at FireCask, an online marketing and WordPress development agency based in the heart of Manchester. With 10 years experience in Search and 5 years in WordPress development, his knowledge and skills have helped businesses worldwide from small operations to global brands. Alex has written for publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, Smashing Magazine, Econsultancy, Moz and more. He is also Co-Founder of Peadig, a WordPress theme framework powered by Bootstrap.

Lee McAteer (AmeriCamp)
Entrepreneur with a background in the legal and media industries who has taken his experience into the student sectors; specifically the events and travel industries. This accumulated with him being named an Enterprise Hero in 2011 and the Commercial Prize Winner for 2012 with the prestigious College of Law. Owner of the Invasion Group and the AmeriCamp brand collectively. He works with a number of high-profile brands in helping them reach maximum potential in the key 18-30 demographic.

Ben Barker (Firecask)
Ben is the current head of search at FireCask, he has grown with the company from day 1 and has achieved some notable results for clients in the B2B and eCommerce space, he is a firm believer in staff development and is often coming up with new ideas to help the team further develop in their given fields. You can follow his musings on @ben_barker1989

Phil Morgan (Delineo)
Phil is passionate about digital marketing and creating integrated campaigns that deliver great results. He is a techie at heart with a Masters in Computer Science and now part of a successful in-house digital marketing team and agency side. He’s worked on projects that have allowed him to broaden my skills and work on national and international campaigns. He enjoys creating digital marketing strategies that include SEO, PPC and Online Display and has worked across industries including finance, energy, healthcare and technology.

Steven Swientozielskyj (CIMA)
Chair of CIMA Professional Standards Committee, Steve has a professional can do- will do approach, with experience in business transformation and change management delivered on an International and National basis. A passionate, charismatic and inspirational leader, he has spoken at international forums, and has undertaken several research papers with Hackett on global best-practices. Speaker at global, European, national and regional levels on his areas of expertise.

Andrew Brooks
Even on sunny days, a rarity in Manchester, England, photographer, digital artist and film-maker Andrew Brooks spends hours in a darkened studio striving to show us the bigger picture. Brooks’s latest work with the BBC investigates the power and awe in nature. His early experiences growing up in the Fens countryside established the foundation of this view and he cites artists from the Romantic era as re-igniting this lifelong passion (BBC Philharmonic Concert Series 2011-12).

Angela Tait & Ian Clegg
Artists who have been working collaboratively on creative projects since 2010. Their practice was founded upon a fascination with combining their individual disciplines of sculpture, photography, illustration and photography. This has led to a collaborative approach to other projects including teaching and writing. Currently they exhibit throughout the UK and beyond. They also present workshops based around their specialisms and each hold a part time university lecturing post.

University of Salford

Dr. Gordon Fletcher
Head of academic unit, Gordon is a motivated educator, manager and innovator with an eye for the distinctive, inspirational and new. His objective is to disseminate and share knowledge to the broadest possible audience with the goal of enabling the success of others in a digitally rich business and social environment.

Dr. David Kreps
Dr David Kreps is an ‘early adopter’, judge of the Big Chip Awards, pioneering thinker and commentator, with a fascination for technology and its impact upon society. A web developer since 1995, he did his PhD thesis on Cyborgism, and has become an expert on Web Accessibility, and explorer into the philosophy of Virtuality.

Dr. Maria Kutar
Director of postgraduate taught courses in International Operations & Information Management she is responsible for MSc Information Systems Management, MSc Project Management and MSc Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, jointly with Dr Marie Griffiths, in recognition of their innovative teaching using Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) techniques. In 2013 she received the Student’s Union Teaching Award for Best Postgraduate Supervisor.

Dr. Marie Griffiths
Reader and Director of the Centre for Digital Business, her main teaching focus is upon the role of digital technologies in the business setting specialises in the convergence of the ‘real’ and digital worlds and the social influences of technology. She researches in the area of commercial and societal implications of technological change

Dr. Aleksej Heinze
Senior Lecturer, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, Co-Director Centre for Digital Business, Head of Advisory Board at SEMTA. Researcher in: SEO, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Social Media Marketing working on mastersindigitalmarketing.org.

Dr Maria E Burke
Reader, researching within the context of Information Systems at the University of Salford. Her main area of research expertise concerns knowledge management and the application of new digital technology to economic, environmental and social systems.

Alex Fenton
Lecturer in digital business and founder of CreativeEnt.co.uk and CreativeHive.org, Alex has been a digital developer, teacher and mentor, balancing the creative and entrepreneurial since 1997.