University of Lincoln Ranked in the UK Top Five for Student Start-up Businesses

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), an expert agency in higher education data and analysis, has confirmed that the University of Lincoln, UK, is among the top five universities in the country for enabling student start-up businesses.

The study, ‘Intellectual property: Spin-off activities by HE provider, type of activity, metric and academic year’, analysed data from 2014 to 2022, and found that the University’s comprehensive range of business incubation services enabled a total of 166 student companies to be actualised.

As well as being placed in the top five institutions in the UK, Lincoln is the leading university in the East Midlands, and is ranked second outside of London.

Reece Leggett, Student Enterprise Manager at the University of Lincoln, said: “We are incredibly proud to see the University of Lincoln ranked among the top five universities nationally for student startups in the academic year 2021/2022. This achievement is a testament to the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of our students, and we are committed to continuing to support and nurture their innovative ideas and ambitions.”

Vicky Addison, Head of Business Incubation and Growth at the University, said: “The continued work of the Research and Enterprise department, in which Student Enterprise is based, has been the linchpin in enabling the University to be seen so prominently in the regional business community. We are always looking at ways to improve our infrastructure so we can offer a pathway for our student start-ups, with it beginning in Student Enterprise, before moving to our on-site incubation centres, Sparkhouse and the Think Tank for continued support and office space.”

Thomas Atkins received funding from Student Enterprise to start his company, Identity Agency, and said: “Without the support and funding provided by the Student Enterprise team I don’t believe that we would have been able to grow as a business as quickly as we did. I received a £2,000 grant which allowed me to buy the majority of my start-up equipment and helped with the cost of moving into an office at Sparkhouse. The University of Lincoln offers such varied support for entrepreneurial students, and I would encourage any student who is considering starting a business to utilise this support as much as they can.”

The HESA survey results are available online www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/providers/business-community/table-4e.

More information about Student Enterprise and Identity Agency is available online: www.student-enterprise.co.uk/ and www.identityagency.co.uk/.