University helps military entrepreneurs move from battlefield to business

The Enterprise Forces Bootcamp, starting March 2014, will put armed service leavers through their paces – covering all the essentials of starting up a business for those wishing to use their forces trade or skill. The intensive two-day course covers business planning, motivation, idea generation, marketing, sales and financial management.

For others wishing to develop a business idea, or to apply technical knowledge, the Enterprise Forces Academy provides an in-depth business course over five days. This combines essential business skills with ideas generation, motivational sessions with successful entrepreneurs, peer-to-peer active learning and individual coaching.

Enterprise Forces programme leader Claire Pattison, said: “Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review, increasing numbers of people are leaving the armed services and making the transition back into civilian life. This can be a daunting prospect, but they have many transferable skills and qualities that provide a natural fit to business. Enterprise Forces aims to accelerate this transition by inspiring and educating would be entrepreneurs.”

The University has worked closely with Heropreneurs, a charity helping military personnel to start up in business. Richard Morris, Founder of Heropreneurs, said: “Former armed services members bring with them excellent expertise and skills. They have been trained to the highest of standards. Their integrity, high energy, passion and high productivity, makes them ideal candidates for running their own businesses. It’s great to see Manchester Metropolitan University provide a tailor made programme to help them hone their skills.”