Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship

HCfE was established in 2007 and has grown substantially in the subsequent years, hitting several significant milestones. Most notably, in 2017 HCfE celebrated two major achievements: being honoured as among the best entrepreneurship research centres in the world by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation agency's Spotlight Challenge and releasing its 10-year plan for the future as part of its 10th anniversary.

In addition to its research focus, HCfE is also heavily involved in the delivery of entrepreneurship education within Henley Business School and across the University of Reading, conducting several modules that are open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students. HCfE faculty are responsible for the portfolio of programmes in entrepreneurship, which include the MSc Entrepreneurship for postgraduate students and BSc Business and Management for undergraduate students. An active community of PhD research students pursuing doctoral research in the area of entrepreneurship are also supervised and supported by HCfE faculty - details on applying for the PhD course can be found here.

The focus on teaching entrepreneurship goes beyond the classroom. HCfE firmly believes in putting entrepreneurship into practice for students, alumni and the local business community. Henley Enterprise Lab (HELAB) was spun out from HCfE in October 2023 to lead a wide range of activities, including the facilitation of student placements to improve their employability, the provision of extracurricular initiatives and supporting the growth of local small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that the Thames Valley area has a vibrant and thriving entrepreneurial future.

Initiatives for our students, led by the Henley Enterprise Lab, include our annual IDEAFEST Student Business Idea Competition to find the student with the best business idea, the hands-on Henley Summer Start-Up Boot Camp to turn a business idea into a reality, the Greenshoots Seed Finance Award Scheme that nurtures new start-ups and the weekly appointments at our Business Idea and Start-Up Clinic where our members of faculty offer practical and individually tailored advice on the first steps towards starting a business. We also have our student-led Entrepreneurship Society programme of events and the shared collaborative workspace of the Entrepreneurship Hub, along with the Henley Entrepreneurship Mentor Programme that connects Henley Business School alumni that have significant experience of leading a business to mentor students still in the earlier stages of their entrepreneurial journey.

We further encourages students to develop business ideas in practice by supporting the Entrepreneurship Vibes week of events, led as part of the Business in Practice: Markets, Marketing and Management module (MM1F20). The Henley Enterprise Lab provides both mentoring and judging of the best business ideas.

Entrepreneurship for local businesses and alumni covers the ways that we support our former students and businesses across the Thames Valley. These include visa endorsement applications for recent graduates, the University of Reading's Knowledge Transfer Centre to facilitate connections between business and academia and submissions for angel investment through Henley Business Angels, led by the Henley Business School Dean's Office.

Professor Maks Belitski is the Director of HCfE.

Keep up to date with all HCfE's news by having a look at our biannual newsletter, which you can read here.