Claire Morley-Jones - Enterprise Ambassador

Claire Morley-Jones of HR180 has been an enterprise ambassador for almost a decade, supporting the growth of the programme as well as inspiring students to realise their full potential.

A business background to motivate students

Affectionately known as ‘The Gaffer’, Claire Morley-Jones is MD of HR business HR180. ‘We provide outsourced HR to companies that don’t have their own internal team,’ Claire explains. ‘We’re quite different from other HR companies around as we don’t provide an advice line. Instead, we get stuck in and do the work. That covers everything from acting as an HR team for a small business to running huge projects, like shareholder disputes taking place in court.’

Claire moved to Yorkshire in 2004, launched HR180 in 2006, then was asked to become an enterprise ambassador four years later. ‘Leeds University Business School was leading the launch of the national Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme at the time and I was offered a place on it,’ says Claire. ‘At the same time the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies was setting up the enterprise ambassador scheme, and asked me to be part of it. I’d received a lot of support from the University of Leeds, and wanted to be able to support the university and its students in kind.’

The drive to influence real entrepreneurial change

The opportunity to support students in enterprise was the main reason Claire decided to come on board as an enterprise ambassador. ‘I was quite young when I set up HR180, and hadn’t really considered an enterprise route as a career option beforehand,’ she says. ‘I want to be able to demonstrate that anyone who has a good idea is capable of running a business, and being an enterprise ambassador allows me to have that input.’

‘The chance to connect with female students was also important to me,’ Claire adds. ‘I’m really passionate about seeing more women in business, and I wanted to be able to reach those female students with ideas and see the number of women-owned SMEs in the UK expand.’

Supporting students with real-life business opportunities

Claire gains great value from being an ambassador and supporting the students and their ideas. ‘I’m always blown away by the Dragon’s Den event and hearing the ideas the students have,’ she says. ‘They need research and development, which is where we enterprise ambassadors can help, but their initial concepts are always impressive.’

‘I’m keen to get the students involved with HR180 where we can, too,’ Claire adds. As part of student modules, or as extra-curricular work, CEES students can visit local businesses, and Claire welcomes those willing to learn. ‘We’ve had a full mix of students, from those coming in to look at the office to visit the space to others running a full student-led marketing project,’ she explains. ‘We’ve really benefitted from this as a company, and I really value the flexibility we have. Depending on our business circumstances, our involvement levels with the students can change. This makes the programme really manageable for us as a company, but I do like to do as much as I can wherever possible.’

Making positive changes to student mindsets

In addition to the business benefits from student visits, Claire’s proud to be able to provide the students with contacts to gain advice from and expand their experiences. ‘We’re lucky we’ve had many students contact us after their time with HR180 to thank us for giving them reassurance in their abilities,’ she adds. ‘We show them it’s not easy – business success certainly doesn’t come all at once, or without a lot of hard work! Yet we demonstrate that’s no reason to give up.’

One particular student stands out for Claire. ‘We worked with an amazing young lady from Nigeria,’ Claire says. ‘The course she was on had helped her refine her business ideas, but – in her words – her time with us made her feel inspired to put her plans into action. I love expanding the global reach we can have through these incredible international students.’

Continuing to support the success of the programme

As part of her enterprise ambassador role, Claire represented the ambassadors at a recent panel, where the programme was awarded Small Business Charter (SBC) accreditation. ‘The panel gave us quite a grilling!’ Claire laughs. ‘Yet doing my bit to help to help illustrate the impact that the business school has really was the icing on the cake as an enterprise ambassador. The SBC status will help us expand the business school facilities and increase the contacts available to support the enterprise students. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?’

‘I plan to continue to be an enterprise ambassador for as long as I can,’ Claire concludes. ‘And I’d definitely encourage other business owners to contact the university and find out how to get involved in the enterprise ambassador programme. Businesses have a huge part to play in the development of both Leeds University Business School courses and the students themselves. I had high hopes for the scheme when I joined, and I’ve certainly see those expectations realised.’