When the current UK coalition government came to power in 2010, it sought amongst other things to stimulate a dormant economy and deal with the national budget deficit. One of its first acts was to charge universities to become the bedrock for entrepreneurial activity, and to deliver challenging enterprise education to all their students, so making those students more employable. However, successive reports from government itself and from industry and academia suggest that universities continue to deliver into the workplace graduates insufficiently prepared to make an early, positive impact in the world of work. This case study, based on the experiences at one UK university, looks at how the SPEED (Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education) Programme (2006–) has provided the foundations for a university-wide enterprise and employability strategy, with an impact on syllabus content, teaching methods and staff engagement, as well as enhancing and strengthening the role given to contributors drawn from the local business community in delivering enterprise education.
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