We would like to give a very warm welcome to another new centre that is joining us this year, iUK Academy. iUK Academy recently joined IOEE as an accredited IOEE Enterprise Academy, and what a time to join. As we finally, and hopefully, see the end of these uncertain times, we hope all of our centres have a really successful year!

I recently had a chance to get to know iUK Academy a bit more. I spoke to Candice Moss, Director of Operations, to find out more about their programmes and their plans for the future. We also discussed the trends of business, the rise in business start-ups and some interesting connections between the creative arts and potential new trends in business.

iUK Academy is part of the InvestUK Group. Headquartered in London with representative offices around the world, InvestUK’s purpose is to help the world’s best entrepreneurs and innovators choose the UK to invest and establish successful businesses in. iUK Academy’s mission is to provide enterprise training, mentoring and local expert market knowledge to support those international entrepreneurs who are looking to set up an innovative business in the UK. iUK Academy’s programmes are also open to UK entrepreneurs who would also benefit from their offering.

The launch of iUK Academy in Dubai this month is a particularly exciting development for the iUK Academy team for 2022.

We are really excited to be working with iUK Academy, and we look forward to seeing what else they get up to in the future.
Why IOEE?

Candice told me that there were multiple reasons for choosing IOEE.

Firstly, iUK Academy felt it important to be able to benchmark their programmes against the approved National Occupational Standards for Enterprise in the UK . Receiving approval from an external professional body not only validates the high standard of the Academy’s programmes but also offers official professional recognition for their learners.

A further selling point was that in joining IOEE, iUK Academy also has access to a community of like-minded enterprise institutions with whom they can discuss and exchange ideas with as well as gain insight into initiatives taking place at other centres.

Finally they mentioned the similarities in both our missions and how we operate. Seeking a way to engage the learner and focus on the learner outcomes rather than being solely financially driven is something that aligns with iUK Academy’s values. Ultimately they share a similar vision for providing knowledge and expertise to help individuals maximise their potential and their wider contribution to the growth and success of UK PLC.

We agreed that the pandemic had made it more difficult for new entrepreneurs to enter the UK market but had not necessarily stopped the flow of innovative ideas. iUK Academy had seen a shift in ideas but it was unclear as to what the final product of this shift will be. Will it be a tech based market or will it be a shift towards businesses with a personal touch. Much like the arts industry, during the pandemic I think we all missed interacting with other people. Perhaps business will shift from the automated back to human to human business.

Who knows what the future will hold for the market. Hopefully, whatever the future looks like, businesses are thriving and new innovative ideas are making their way out. iUK Academy is there to support international innovative thinkers who wish to start up their business in the UK. Thank you iUK Academy for taking the time out to speak to me, and I look forward to seeing the great ideas that come from your learners.