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Enterprising students host Entrepreneurship Conference in Folkestone

Local business leaders and students recently gathered at EKC Group’s Folkestone College for the second annual Entrepreneurship Conference.

The Conference, organised by Folkestone College’s BTEC Level 3 Enterprise and Entrepreneurship students, brought together a range of industry professionals, including guest speakers, Chris Eley, from the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, Alex Macintyre from Fortem Financial Management, and Terry Botfield from The Marsh Network and Botfield Associates.

The guest speakers took it in turns to share their experiences and career journeys, offering students from across the College valuable advice about what it is like to start a business, and the different routes they can take to become entrepreneurs.   

Folkestone College alumnus and Director of Fortem Financial Management, Alex Macintyre, was delighted to return to the College commenting: “It’s fantastic to be back at the College and to see the facilities and support available to students. I’m glad to be able to impart my knowledge to the students and give back to the College where I started my journey.”

The Conference was followed by a networking event where the students had the opportunity to speak with a range of local businesses.

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship student, Chelsey Spearing, who helped to organise the Conference, was pleased with how the day went saying: “I’m really happy with how the Conference has gone. My classmates and I have worked hard to make it a successful event, and we have learnt a lot over the past few weeks about the importance of teamwork and communication.” 

Chelsey added: “It’s been great to listen to the speakers and to hear about their different pathways to becoming entrepreneurs. The information from the speakers has been fantastic and I feel confident that if I wanted to start my own business, I would now know how to get started.”

Folkestone College is one of only 21 Peter Jones Enterprise Academies (PJEA) in the UK. The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy is a flagship programme by the Peter Jones Foundation which aims to ‘bring the boardroom into the classroom’ and equip students with the skills, knowledge and experiences needed to succeed in their chosen careers.

For more information about the courses available at Folkestone College visit www.folkestonecollege.ac.uk