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Imogen Maguire - BA (Hons) Business Management 2024

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Recent University of Leeds alumna Imogen Maguire found co-curricular entrepreneurship opportunities gave her the confidence, networks and experiences to develop her own business after graduation.

Gaining a range of core business skills

Imogen graduated with a BA (Hons) Business Management in 2024. “I knew building my own business was something I wanted to pursue,” she says. “I researched my options, and felt this course at the University of Leeds covered a lot of bases and would give me a really broad range of skills.

“I’d never been to Leeds before, and couldn’t visit before I applied due to the pandemic, but I had a good feeling about the city. I also knew someone who was studying a business-based course at the university, and they spoke really highly of it, so I decided to apply.”

Applying course knowledge to awards entry experience

Imogen became involved in enterprise in her third year, when she received an email from her tutors inviting her to enter Leeds University Business School’s LUBS International Entrepreneur Award. “I felt I could use the skills I’d learnt in my course to date to enter with a business concept I’d been working on prior to university. The idea is PowerNow: an electric vehicle charging app that quickly and easily connects drivers with charge point owners,” Imogen explains. “Entering the competition felt like a great opportunity to gain some pitching experience and develop a business idea before going out into the real world!”

Through sessions designed for award entrants at the university, Imogen met some of the Leeds entrepreneurs and business owners who volunteer their time to support students. “They gave me such brilliant advice, especially on the practical side of running a business,” she says. “I then pitched to an all-female panel. This included CEO of Zeal Jane Slimming, CEO of Magpie Communications and CEES Enterprise Ambassador Becky Dam, and owner of North Studio and Winner of BBC The Apprentice 2024 Rachel Woolford. I won first place.”

Building connections from the university business hub

“My prize was monetary vouchers, which I used to invest in my business (including buying a standing desk),” Imogen says. “But it was the experience and opportunities that came from my win that had the most value. I’d built a good relationship with Rebecca Padgett, a faculty member of the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies at Leeds University Business School, and she continues to support me and my business ideas.

“The student startup support service, Spark, also gave me a hotdesking spot at their student incubator, in the university business centre, Nexus. It’s great to know I’m able to use the space for working and meetings, even though I’ve graduated.”

Developing a new business after graduation

Today, Imogen runs Social Sync (an agency training business owners to create their own marketing content) as her lifestyle business. But PowerNow is the venture she really wants to progress. “I couldn’t start investing personal funds in PowerNow straight after graduating; I’d decided to stay living in Leeds, so had my rent and bills to pay,” Imogen explains. “But the electric vehicle sector is a really untapped market. There simply aren’t enough charge points per vehicle owner, and certainly not enough to meet government guidelines, so I really want to develop the app beyond its concept stage in the coming months.”

To progress PowerNow, Imogen has also been accepted onto the West Yorkshire Innovative Entrepreneurs Programme (IEP), funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, led by the University of Leeds and a consortium of West Yorkshire universities, and hosted at Nexus. “The support I received as a student at the University of Leeds has allowed me to be part of the IEP,” she explains. “This is a great example of how my involvement with student programmes has been a springboard to success in support schemes city-wide. I’m already benefitting from great advice from experts, including Jane Slimming.

“I’d encourage anyone studying business at the University of Leeds to look into enterprise awards submissions and co-curricular opportunities,” Imogen concludes. “It helped me figure out what aspects of business management I am most interested in and has set great foundations for my entrepreneurial future.”