Summer 2023 Update: Wrapping up an eventful quarter!
Contents:
Launch of the CFE annual Business Startup Index →
NEF+ Alumni Updates – Demo Day →
Incubator and Accelerator Network Update →
Refugee Entrepreneurship Network →
Launch of the CFE annual Business Startup Index
The figures have revealed an upsurge in business formation since 2014. The latest Companies House data, as analysed by the Centre, shows that business formations reached a new record of 790,390 in 2022, growing 4.53% since 2021. Read the full report here.
NEF+ Updates
25 members of the graduating cohort plus a number of NEF+ alumni founders pitched to panels of judges and an audience of fellow NEFers, coaches, mentors and other members of the CFE community.
Individual award winners
Three individuals were highlighted for their contributions to the programme and success in developing their businesses:
– Circular Threads, for the best presentation and business put forward on the day, this was decided by an audience vote.
he Chairman’s Prize, awarded on behalf of CFE’s Chair of Trustees, Oliver Pawle, went to Anoli Mehta and her business,– Fairshare.
The CEO’s Prize is made by the CFE’s CEO, Timothy Barnes with input from all the programme participants and delivery team. It recognises the entrepreneur who has made the most progress on the programme and was collected by Rachel Drapper, founder of–
The Fellows’ Award is selected by members of the cohort who identify one of their peers as the most helpful to the group. Nick Toomey picked up this award to a huge round of applause. Clearly a very popular choice!
We are proud to have brought together another diverse group of founders and startup businesses to go through our entrepreneurial training programme. In our current cohort, we have ventures across Community, Health, Climate Tech, FMCG, Marketing and more.
As always, we are excited to see where the journey takes them and will be keeping our community updated.
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NEF+ Alumni Updates – Demo Day

We plan to run more of these events in the future, and extend participation to founders from CFE’s other networks. To register your interest, email CFE CEO Tim Barnes: Tim@centreforentrepreneurs.org
Incubator Accelerator Network Update
Reverting back to our pre-covid timing, the 6th Annual IAN conference was hosted by Sheffield Hallam University at The Hallam i-lab on the 20th and 21st June 2023.
This flagship annual event convened 80 incubator and accelerator managers from across the UK for best-practice sharing, networking and collaboration.
IAN Amsterdam study trip
In February, delegates from the IAN network traveled to the Netherlands for a successful study trip. During the trip they visited a range of innovative spaces, including Startup Village in Amsterdam, The Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship and Yes! Delft. Study Trips like this are part of an expanded offer for members of our IAN community. A trip to Paris is planned for next year.
Refugee Entrepreneurship Network
The REN community continues to grow, with new members recently joining from Australia, Lithuania, the UK and Africa.
To support REN’s development, we have launched a new website and implemented a membership structure, enabling us to better serve the community.
Our new member offer provides a discounted membership rate for 2 years, and access to significantly discounted summit tickets. Our 6th annual global summit will be held in Izmir, Turkey from the 17-18th October. Convening over 100 refugee entrepreneurship practitioners, funders, researchers and policymakers for two days of talks, workshops, networking, and optional site visits, this is a great opportunity to hear the latest developments and build meaningful connections.
Spinout Survey
Founders Forum Updates
cess – over 30,000 attendees and more than 300 speakers. CFE’s involvement included CEO Tim Barnes at Founders Forum, and former CFE CEO Neeta Patel CBE chairing a panel – ‘Digital Natives: the generation you can’t afford to ignore’.
A Big Thank You – Ed Haddon
Ed, the CEO and Founder of Haddon Coaching – the first coaching business in the UK to be B-Corp certified, decided to run the South West coastal footpath as a challenge to celebrate his 50th birthday and raise money for charities, including CFE.
Ed’s raised over £7,000 for CFE so far. The challenge was completed the 31 day run, covering 1,000km with a cumulative ascent of over 35,000m. Tough going – that’s quite an achievement!
As well as running a successful entrepreneur-focused coaching business, Ed’s Executive Chair of Adventure Experience, an angel investor and author of The Modern Maverick.
We are incredibly grateful to Ed, and his generous network of friends and supporters for their contribution to CFE.
CFE Team Updates


From left: Tessa Lin Wang, Xingyue (Kelsey) Lei.
Thank you to all our donors
Lord Agnew of Oulton, parliamentary under secretary of state, Department for Education; Ian Armitage, co-founder, Isfield Investments; Lord Davies of Abersoch, chairman, Corsair Capital; Sir Lloyd Dorfman, founder, Travelex; The Golden Bottle Trust; David Gregson, co-founder, Phoenix; Andrew Joy, senior advisor, Stonehage Fleming; Lord Lupton, ex-chairman, Greenhill Europe; Sir Keith Mills, ex-deputy chairman, LOCOG; Monica Monajem, managing director, Amitis Partners; Jon Moulton, founder, Better Capital; Vin Murria, entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and HG Capital board member; Rajal Patni & Rohit Patni, Lavanya Plus; Oliver Pawle, chair, board practice, Korn Ferry; David Pearl, David Pearlman Foundation; Andy Phillipps, entrepreneur and early stage technology investor; Mark Pritchard, founder, Allied Minds; The Rayne Foundation; Mike Rees, former deputy group CEO, Standard Chartered; Sir John Ritblat, honorary president, The British Land Company PLC; Gerald Ronson, Gerald Ronson Foundation; Sir Nigel Rudd, chairman, Business Growth Fund; Sadell Fellowship; Elisabeth Scott, former trustee, New Entrepreneurs Foundation; David Tibble, Inspiration Trust; Jean-Baptiste Wautier, managing partner, BC Partners; The Hon. Charles Wigoder, executive chairman, Utility Warehouse. Corbyn Munnick, CEO Sliide Class of 2013, Joel Gujral, Founder & CEO MYNDUP Class of 2020, Alex Somervell, Co-Founder & CEO One Third Stories Class of 2016, Fiona Timba, Legal Counsel Barclays Class of 2015, Guy Riese, CEO & Founder Up Learn Class of 2016, JJ Tan, Founder Jelly Class of 2017 and Quin Murray, Co-Founder & CPO Krzana Class of 2015, Kike Oniwinde, BYP Network, (2018), Louis Mech (2012), Ravi Patel (2012),