Description
It is our great pleasure to invite you to the Durham Symposium on Small Business & Enterprise Development.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: CELEBRATING FIVE DECADES OF ENTERPRISE
The Durham Symposium on Small Business & Enterprise Development
St Aidan's College and Durham Castle
15th and 16th September 2015
INVITATION
Dear Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Colleagues:
It is our great pleasure to invite you to the Durham Symposium on Small Business & Enterprise Development.
We are a group of ex-members of Durham University's Small Business Centre, interested in understanding and
supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship. We are organising and hosting this event to provide a platform for
practitioners, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and academics who share our passion for enterprise and small
business development to come together and exchange experiences, build on them to imagine future scenarios
and debate the challenges that face us.
From start-up to today
Forty five years ago Enterprise was put firmly on the map by Professor Allan Gibb and his colleagues at the Small
Business Centre, Durham University. In the intervening period thousands of academics, students, policy makers,
practitioners and entrepreneurs have been involved in the Durham experience, and have taken the ever evolving
concepts, philosophy and practice of enterprise to all corners of the world. People have worked in and with the
Small Business Centre, and latterly the Foundation for SME Development, participated in training programmes,
undertaken academic qualifications, visited Durham, attended events and workshops and contributed as rol e
models sharing their own unique experience for the benefit and enlightenment of other members of the
enterprise community. Allan and his colleagues pioneered a range of interventions including: Primary and
Secondary Enterprise Education; Training of Business Counsellors and Advisers; New Venture and Growth
Programmes; The Shell Step Programme; Graduate and Young Enterprise Programmes; Banker training in SME
Relationship banking, and establishing the Small Business Research Association (UKEMRA, now ISBE).
In the process the Small Business Centre/Foundation for SME Development has influenced the development of
enterprise and entrepreneurship at all levels: helping shape policy at national, regional and local levels;
embedding an enterprise culture in the education structure; stimulating ideas and debate amongst the academic
community and – most important of all - exchanging know-how with businesses both large and small.
Moreover, as members of the Small Business Centre/Foundation community have moved, travelled and
collaborated widely both nationally and abroad they have helped to develop the shape of enterprise in the UK
and on the international stage.
The Symposium
Although the Centre closed many years ago many of us wish to commemorate this truly remarkable achievement,
and the evolution of an impressive enterprise knowledge base and range of enterprise activities and associates.
In order to do this, a two-day celebratory event will be held on 15th and 16th September, bringing together those
who once worked in and with the Small Business Centre and the Foundation for SME Development over the
years, together with entrepreneurs, policy makers, academics and practitioners currently active in the enterprise
and entrepreneurship debate.
With such an incredibly rich set of experience, knowledge and talent, the event will provide a powerful forum
for discussion, knowledge development and – as important – a social occasion with an opportunity to catch up
with old friends and colleagues and have a lot of fun!
The Symposium, on Tuesday and Wednesday 15th and 16th September will take the form of a structured series
of discussion sessions, led by members of the SBC community, that will examine core themes of enterprise
(enterprise in education; enterprise policy; enterprise and business development; internationalisation of
enterprise; enterprise practice and professional development and the entrepreneurial university). Each of the
core themes will enable us to:
? Assess the achievements over the past forty five years – just how far have we come in our enterprise
knowledge, expertise and impact?
? Examine the current debates, issues and challenges – what are the big enterprise themes of today?
? Identify the implications for the future – at the levels of policy and practice!
The Challenge
Many of the norms and assumptions around economic growth, and by extension wealth creation by
entrepreneurs and owner-managers, have changed or no longer hold. This is particularly relevant now because
recovery in the mature economies of Europe, America and Japan will need entrepreneurs to rejuvenate them.
Similarly, reversing the slowdown in China and stimulating the take-off of sub-Saharan Africa will be driven by
entrepreneurs starting and growing their own businesses. This is a very different context to the global expansion
seen in the late 1990s and 2000s.
At this point, in this new economic context, it makes sense to reflect on what we know that we can use, and also
what we need to learn about and know anew because of these changes. So, our aims for the Symposium are
two-fold:
a) To reflect on what we’ve learnt from the past, with a particular concern for what still holds or what can
be applied within the new parameters in which we operate; and
b) To explore what this means for the future, i.e. what do we need to know, or learn afresh or differently?
The Symposium will be structured around these two themes. Starting with a Plenary session with Allan Gibb,
Day 1 will be dedicated to reflecting critically on what we’ve learnt, and what this means. Day 2 will consider
what this learning means for the future and what are our new ‘need-to-knows’?
More than just a conference! Call for Contributions
The debate starts now. This invitation marks the beginning of a process leading up to the event in September
and which will continue beyond the two days that we will spend together.
To make the Symposium a success, we hope as many of you as possible will contribute and influence the focus
and evolution of the debate. We encourage you to use a variety and flexible range of media, including conference
papers, thought pieces, polemics, green/white papers, discussion notes, videos, animations, and so on.
If you have something to say, we’d like to hear it, either by just coming along and participating, or by submitting
a contribution. For those of you who wish to, PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS BY 30th JUNE 2015 TO
LYNDA ANDERSON AT: [email protected]. Or contact us earlier if you have questions or want to discuss
your proposed contribution.
Some Key Themes
Contributors may focus on the research and development of new solutions and models, or equally they may
highlight the results of the testing or dissemination phase or offer reflections and perspective on models from
past practice. We invite contributors to use their experiences and to draw conclusions that can help determine
the future agenda for enterprise and small business development. Contributions may focus on any issue you
consider relevant to the debate, but to get you started we invite you to draw inspiration from the Small Business
Centre model:
? Enterprise education: How can we ensure
that young people leave school with a strong
enterprising spirit, a need even greater in
today’s challenging world?
? Academe: What is the role of academe in
developing an enterprising spirit in the young,
in encouraging spinouts and academic
entrepreneurship, in creating partnerships
between universities and business for joint
research? Which models work and which
pose more challenges than they solve?
? Pre-start and Start-up: How should we
encourage entrepreneurship and facilitate
start-ups in order to address the challenges of
today and tomorrow?
? Survival and turnaround: This concept has never been more relevant than during the recent economic
crisis. Are the models for financial restructuring solely about the physical assets or do they truly attempt to
leverage the human capital and the ideas of the business to secure a turnaround?
? Growth: Policy makers and practitioners still struggle to find the best ways to help small companies grow.
What do we mean by growth and how do we foster it?
? Internationalisation: Few companies are immune to international competition and the Internet has made
it much easier for companies to operate beyond national borders, although many challenges remain for
small businesses.
? Networks: Trainers, educators, counsellors and bankers – all have a key role to play in supporting the small
business, but how to make sure that they really add value where it is most needed? How should the
provision of support be structured?
? International development: In the past, many models developed in the UK were found to have equal
relevance elsewhere, but it is likely that solutions developed internationally will also contain useful lessons
for the UK.
? Enabling environments: Although often the subject of debate, do we really have the answers? To what
extent do reality and policy coincide?
Registration and Fees
The Symposium comprises a variety of activities spread over Tuesday 15th September and the morning of
Wednesday 16th September, finishing with lunch on the Wednesday.
Time and space will also be made available for those who wish to stay longer on Wednesday to network, discuss
collaboration, and catch up. There will also be the option of an informal dinner on Wednesday evening, for which
there will be a separate charge for those choosing to stay.
You can attend all events or 'pick and choose'.
Fees are set out below:
Event Dates and Time Cost
1 'Back to the Future' Symposium, including
the dinner at Durham Castle (Tuesday 15th
September)
Tuesday 15th September -
Wednesday 16th September 2015:
09.30 - 17.30 hours on Tuesday;
19.30 – 0.00 hours on Tuesday
09.30 - 14.30 hours on Wednesday
£225 per person
2 Dinner at Durham Castle (without
attending the main body of the
Symposium)
Tuesday 15th September:
19.30 - 00.00 hours
£65 per person
3 Optional Wednesday afternoon
networking session and optional informal
dinner on Wednesday evening
To be advised
Note that a 5% discount on the Symposium fee of £225 is offered if you book your place before 31st May 2015.
To secure your place at all or any of the events please complete the attached Registration Form.
We very much hope to see you in Durham in September to celebrate all things Enterprise!
With best wishes,
The Symposium Organising Team
doc_599164532.pdf
It is our great pleasure to invite you to the Durham Symposium on Small Business & Enterprise Development.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: CELEBRATING FIVE DECADES OF ENTERPRISE
The Durham Symposium on Small Business & Enterprise Development
St Aidan's College and Durham Castle
15th and 16th September 2015
INVITATION
Dear Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Colleagues:
It is our great pleasure to invite you to the Durham Symposium on Small Business & Enterprise Development.
We are a group of ex-members of Durham University's Small Business Centre, interested in understanding and
supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship. We are organising and hosting this event to provide a platform for
practitioners, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and academics who share our passion for enterprise and small
business development to come together and exchange experiences, build on them to imagine future scenarios
and debate the challenges that face us.
From start-up to today
Forty five years ago Enterprise was put firmly on the map by Professor Allan Gibb and his colleagues at the Small
Business Centre, Durham University. In the intervening period thousands of academics, students, policy makers,
practitioners and entrepreneurs have been involved in the Durham experience, and have taken the ever evolving
concepts, philosophy and practice of enterprise to all corners of the world. People have worked in and with the
Small Business Centre, and latterly the Foundation for SME Development, participated in training programmes,
undertaken academic qualifications, visited Durham, attended events and workshops and contributed as rol e
models sharing their own unique experience for the benefit and enlightenment of other members of the
enterprise community. Allan and his colleagues pioneered a range of interventions including: Primary and
Secondary Enterprise Education; Training of Business Counsellors and Advisers; New Venture and Growth
Programmes; The Shell Step Programme; Graduate and Young Enterprise Programmes; Banker training in SME
Relationship banking, and establishing the Small Business Research Association (UKEMRA, now ISBE).
In the process the Small Business Centre/Foundation for SME Development has influenced the development of
enterprise and entrepreneurship at all levels: helping shape policy at national, regional and local levels;
embedding an enterprise culture in the education structure; stimulating ideas and debate amongst the academic
community and – most important of all - exchanging know-how with businesses both large and small.
Moreover, as members of the Small Business Centre/Foundation community have moved, travelled and
collaborated widely both nationally and abroad they have helped to develop the shape of enterprise in the UK
and on the international stage.
The Symposium
Although the Centre closed many years ago many of us wish to commemorate this truly remarkable achievement,
and the evolution of an impressive enterprise knowledge base and range of enterprise activities and associates.
In order to do this, a two-day celebratory event will be held on 15th and 16th September, bringing together those
who once worked in and with the Small Business Centre and the Foundation for SME Development over the
years, together with entrepreneurs, policy makers, academics and practitioners currently active in the enterprise
and entrepreneurship debate.
With such an incredibly rich set of experience, knowledge and talent, the event will provide a powerful forum
for discussion, knowledge development and – as important – a social occasion with an opportunity to catch up
with old friends and colleagues and have a lot of fun!
The Symposium, on Tuesday and Wednesday 15th and 16th September will take the form of a structured series
of discussion sessions, led by members of the SBC community, that will examine core themes of enterprise
(enterprise in education; enterprise policy; enterprise and business development; internationalisation of
enterprise; enterprise practice and professional development and the entrepreneurial university). Each of the
core themes will enable us to:
? Assess the achievements over the past forty five years – just how far have we come in our enterprise
knowledge, expertise and impact?
? Examine the current debates, issues and challenges – what are the big enterprise themes of today?
? Identify the implications for the future – at the levels of policy and practice!
The Challenge
Many of the norms and assumptions around economic growth, and by extension wealth creation by
entrepreneurs and owner-managers, have changed or no longer hold. This is particularly relevant now because
recovery in the mature economies of Europe, America and Japan will need entrepreneurs to rejuvenate them.
Similarly, reversing the slowdown in China and stimulating the take-off of sub-Saharan Africa will be driven by
entrepreneurs starting and growing their own businesses. This is a very different context to the global expansion
seen in the late 1990s and 2000s.
At this point, in this new economic context, it makes sense to reflect on what we know that we can use, and also
what we need to learn about and know anew because of these changes. So, our aims for the Symposium are
two-fold:
a) To reflect on what we’ve learnt from the past, with a particular concern for what still holds or what can
be applied within the new parameters in which we operate; and
b) To explore what this means for the future, i.e. what do we need to know, or learn afresh or differently?
The Symposium will be structured around these two themes. Starting with a Plenary session with Allan Gibb,
Day 1 will be dedicated to reflecting critically on what we’ve learnt, and what this means. Day 2 will consider
what this learning means for the future and what are our new ‘need-to-knows’?
More than just a conference! Call for Contributions
The debate starts now. This invitation marks the beginning of a process leading up to the event in September
and which will continue beyond the two days that we will spend together.
To make the Symposium a success, we hope as many of you as possible will contribute and influence the focus
and evolution of the debate. We encourage you to use a variety and flexible range of media, including conference
papers, thought pieces, polemics, green/white papers, discussion notes, videos, animations, and so on.
If you have something to say, we’d like to hear it, either by just coming along and participating, or by submitting
a contribution. For those of you who wish to, PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS BY 30th JUNE 2015 TO
LYNDA ANDERSON AT: [email protected]. Or contact us earlier if you have questions or want to discuss
your proposed contribution.
Some Key Themes
Contributors may focus on the research and development of new solutions and models, or equally they may
highlight the results of the testing or dissemination phase or offer reflections and perspective on models from
past practice. We invite contributors to use their experiences and to draw conclusions that can help determine
the future agenda for enterprise and small business development. Contributions may focus on any issue you
consider relevant to the debate, but to get you started we invite you to draw inspiration from the Small Business
Centre model:
? Enterprise education: How can we ensure
that young people leave school with a strong
enterprising spirit, a need even greater in
today’s challenging world?
? Academe: What is the role of academe in
developing an enterprising spirit in the young,
in encouraging spinouts and academic
entrepreneurship, in creating partnerships
between universities and business for joint
research? Which models work and which
pose more challenges than they solve?
? Pre-start and Start-up: How should we
encourage entrepreneurship and facilitate
start-ups in order to address the challenges of
today and tomorrow?
? Survival and turnaround: This concept has never been more relevant than during the recent economic
crisis. Are the models for financial restructuring solely about the physical assets or do they truly attempt to
leverage the human capital and the ideas of the business to secure a turnaround?
? Growth: Policy makers and practitioners still struggle to find the best ways to help small companies grow.
What do we mean by growth and how do we foster it?
? Internationalisation: Few companies are immune to international competition and the Internet has made
it much easier for companies to operate beyond national borders, although many challenges remain for
small businesses.
? Networks: Trainers, educators, counsellors and bankers – all have a key role to play in supporting the small
business, but how to make sure that they really add value where it is most needed? How should the
provision of support be structured?
? International development: In the past, many models developed in the UK were found to have equal
relevance elsewhere, but it is likely that solutions developed internationally will also contain useful lessons
for the UK.
? Enabling environments: Although often the subject of debate, do we really have the answers? To what
extent do reality and policy coincide?
Registration and Fees
The Symposium comprises a variety of activities spread over Tuesday 15th September and the morning of
Wednesday 16th September, finishing with lunch on the Wednesday.
Time and space will also be made available for those who wish to stay longer on Wednesday to network, discuss
collaboration, and catch up. There will also be the option of an informal dinner on Wednesday evening, for which
there will be a separate charge for those choosing to stay.
You can attend all events or 'pick and choose'.
Fees are set out below:
Event Dates and Time Cost
1 'Back to the Future' Symposium, including
the dinner at Durham Castle (Tuesday 15th
September)
Tuesday 15th September -
Wednesday 16th September 2015:
09.30 - 17.30 hours on Tuesday;
19.30 – 0.00 hours on Tuesday
09.30 - 14.30 hours on Wednesday
£225 per person
2 Dinner at Durham Castle (without
attending the main body of the
Symposium)
Tuesday 15th September:
19.30 - 00.00 hours
£65 per person
3 Optional Wednesday afternoon
networking session and optional informal
dinner on Wednesday evening
To be advised
Note that a 5% discount on the Symposium fee of £225 is offered if you book your place before 31st May 2015.
To secure your place at all or any of the events please complete the attached Registration Form.
We very much hope to see you in Durham in September to celebrate all things Enterprise!
With best wishes,
The Symposium Organising Team
doc_599164532.pdf