The Spark Enterprise Scholarship Scheme 2024/25 has now closed. Details of the 2025/26 scheme will be published in September 2025.

The Enterprise Scholarship Scheme is a fantastic opportunity to develop your fledgling business skills in a supportive environment. Not only that but as a successful candidate you will receive a substantial grant to help with your start-up costs. As a highlight of the scheme, you will be invited to join our intensive enterprise bootcamp where you will hear from a wide range of successful entrepreneurs who have been through the programme. Benefit from their experience as they share their skills giving you the flying start your competitors only dream of!

Training

• Market Research
• Business Planning & Forecasting
• Accessing Finance
• Sales & Marketing
• Pitching your business
• Legal
• Networking

So what next?

The Package

• £3,000 to help develop enterprise opportunities, plus £1,000 that the University will use to pay for your training and development
• Possibility of access to the Spark Business Incubator based in Nexus (subject to availability).
• Access to a range of business mentors
• A supportive environment in which to combine academic study with entrepreneurial activities
• Access to professional networks
• Access to Helix and Edward Boyle Library enterprise zones
• The opportunity to participate in and help build the University’s enterprise community
• The opportunity to become an ambassador for enterprise at the University
• Continued support form an award-winning department.

Any questions, please email: Spark@leeds.ac.uk 

Creating a buzz around a business

“I was trading on Ebay,” said Harry, “but having my own website was a much better solution. Besides the money I found it really helpful having my own office space at Nexus, enabling me to build my business alongside my studies.

Beekeeping seems an unlikely way of making a living, but it’s absolutely flown for Spark scholar Harry Simpson.

Moss Nook Honey is now fast approaching a turnover of million pounds a year for 21 year-old Harry who graduated from the University of Leeds last summer.

In his first year of studying for a BSc degree in Economics, he saw a notice on Minerva about the Business Plan competition that offered a £1,000 prize.

He got through to the second round and although he didn’t win anything, he was advised to apply for a Spark scholarship.

>He did just that the following year and won £3,000, enabling him to buy stock and build a professional and engaging website that proved instrumental to his business.

Harry started Moss Nook Honey in 2019 which is a one-stop shop for honey. He also sells all types of equipment including hives, tools, honey extraction equipment and suits for those wanting to get into beekeeping.

Harry has hit the sweet spot by constructing affordable beehives for people to take up the hobby without breaking the bank. He sells fully constructed hives with assembled frames as well as flat packed hives to suit all tastes. He can also provide different sized colonies of bees.

In addition, he offers commercial farmers across the country the opportunity to use his beehives to help pollinate their crops, allowing them to gain a higher yield of up to 25%.

He has sought to make beekeeping as easy as possible and offers free advice whenever he can to bolster the UK’s bee population.

 

“I also made great contacts with like-minded people and learnt a lot from them. I got some good advice on a whole range of matters

“As part of the scholarship, I did a two-day course, picking up knowledge on legal and HR matters as well as learning business acumen. It was well worth it.

“I always wanted to have my own business. I had the entrepreneurial spirit from a young age – selling free range eggs at the age of eight. I tried to get into investment banking in my last year of university but am much happier having my own business now.”

Harry took over another company called Simon The Beekeeper this year and is going global – selling across Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and now wants to set up in America.

He even sells honey to Greece – a bit like selling ice to eskimos.  Quite an achievement really.

Breathe & Birth 

Sarah is in her final year of the BSc Midwifery program at the University of Leeds. Her passion for midwifery started when she volunteered as a Doula for almost two years in Hull. Sarah founded Breathe & Birth in February 2023, which is a hypnobirthing business that provides antenatal classes and hypnobirthing practices. Her goal is to educate, empower, and excite families about the birth of their baby. 

“Hypnobirthing is a technique that uses hypnosis during pregnancy to reduce subconscious fear surrounding childbirth. During labour, it helps to remain calm and centred, promotes labouring hormones, and relieves pain.”

The main inspiration behind starting her business was the positive impact hypnobirthing has on families during childbirth. Sarah witnessed this firsthand while caring for her first family during their labour. Having previously witnessed births, she understood the stress and anxiety that comes with the intense experience of childbirth.

However, this birth was different. The mother breathed through her contractions while her partner spoke encouraging affirmations to her. Even when complications arose, she remained calm and centred, resulting in an immensely positive experience despite the challenges that arose towards the end.

“I wanted every family to have a similar experience and reflect on their birth in a positive way. After conducting research, I discovered that many hypnobirthing teachers were perceived as "hippy" and not evidence-based. Additionally, a lot of information that families were being told through their antenatal classes needed to be more accurate and safe. .”

As a result, Sarah’s main focus is to support families' emotional and mental well-being through education and hypnotherapy in three ways:
1. Reduce anxiety and stress during pregnancy to promote optimal bonding time for families and to aid in the unborn baby's brain development, building lasting connections.
2. Act as a tool to remain calm, safe, and informed throughout labour and birth so that families have techniques to reduce anxiety and promote a positive birth experience, regardless of what happens.
3. Improve the transition to parenthood postnatally through the use of hypnosis.

‘I am thrilled to have been awarded the SPARK Enterprise Scholarship and received 3rd place in the trading category for the SPARK Business Plan Competition. The funding I received has enabled me to hold my first in-person class and conduct numerous one-on-one sessions, both in-person and online. This has allowed me to be more flexible in my teaching approach, making my classes more inclusive and accessible, especially to anxious parents.’

Sarah’s goal for the future is to create an online hypnobirthing course that parents can access easily and at an affordable price. This course will provide evidence-based and unbiased information about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, along with regular hypnobirthing practice to improve their mental health. Currently, Sarah is experimenting with different methods of delivering this course to ensure that the content delivery is perfect before the launch of the final online course.