About

What is Enterprise Week?

Enterprise Week (17-23 November 2008), part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, is a national celebration of enterprise with thousands of events and activities happening across the UK. Last year there were over 5,000 events and more than half a million people took part!

Over 2,000 organisations run events and activities during the week to encourage people to have ideas and make them happen. This can be by starting up a new business or social enterprise, or by having ideas and making them happen in the workplace.

If you have any questions about Enterprise Week, check out our FAQs page.

What is Global Entrepreneurship Week?

In 2008, Enterprise Week will be part of the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Week. It’s a worldwide celebration of enterprise, which aims to unleash young people’s enterprising ideas and address some of society’s biggest issues, from poverty reduction through to climate change. More than 70 countries are currently signed up to run their very own versions of Enterprise Week, all coming under the banner of Global Entrepreneurship Week! Read more.

What do we mean by enterprise?

We mean to have ideas and make them happen. The package of skills we use to describe enterprise are:

• creativity
• problem solving
• risk taking
• financial capability
• resourcefulness
• taking the initiative
• selling ideas

People can use their enterprise skills in many areas of their life: at work, at home, or in education. All these vital skills will help people to make their mark.

The campaign behind Enterprise Week

Make Your Mark is the national campaign to unlock the UK’s enterprise potential. We aim to inspire people to have ideas and make them happen. We aim to create a culture which supports enterprising people and recognises that making money and having a positive social impact can go hand in hand.

Make Your Mark is funded by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

In addition to Enterprise Week and the various ways you can get involved, we run a wide variety of campaigns, projects and initiatives throughout the year. To find out more about Make Your Mark see: www.makeyourmark.org.uk

Why run an Enterprise Week activity?

We need people and organisations to help create an environment that allows enterprising behaviour to flourish. It’s important people believe in themselves and strive to make their ideas happen, and they often need encouragement and help.

The drive to nurture enterprise talent needs business, education, government, voluntary organisations and the media to work together – no single sector or organisation working in isolation can create opportunities on this ambitious scale.

Enterprise Week is a great opportunity for showcasing what hundreds of organisations already do all year round to help foster an enterprise culture, or alternatively to launch a new initiative or scheme. See our resources page for some great event ideas.