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Support for Start-Ups and SMEs
Helping Your Business Fly
At Lincoln, we're passionate about supporting entrepreneurs at any stage of their journey and helping to get their business idea off the ground.
We currently offer four main avenues of support to those looking to start or scale-up a business: Sparkhouse, Enterprise, Think Tank, and Student Enterprise.
Our dedicated Enterprise and Innovation Team are on hand to help support you throughout your time with us, and we provide a range of services and guidance to help give your business a boost.
Our Facilities
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Sparkhouse
A thriving business incubation centre on the University's Brayford Pool Campus. Home to a wide range of creative, innovative, and tech-based businesses, Sparkhouse has supported over 1000 businesses.
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Enterprise
Enterprise is the perfect place for businesses looking to grow, develop, expand their offering, and establish themselves. Our offices are modern and light with all the amenities a business would need.
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Think Tank
Lincoln's leading business innovation centre, Think Tank is designed to support established businesses looking to scale-up their product or service and innovate in their field.
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Student Enterprise
A dedicated team supporting students and graduates looking to explore self-employment of any kind with events, workshops, funding, networking, mentoring, and free resources.
How We Support You
Whether it be through tenancies at Sparkhouse, Enterprise, or Think Tank, or involvement with Student Enterprise, we can support your journey as a business owner in a number of ways
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AFFORDABILITY
We recognise that in the early stages of business ownership, being able to keep costs low is a massive help. We offer staggered affordable rent at Sparkhouse and Enterprise and competitive rental prices at Think Tank. We also offer virtual office spaces for businesses looking to set-up a formal business address.
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MENTORING
We offer business mentoring with all of our physical tenancies at Sparkhouse and Enterprise. Whether you're figuring out those early stages or looking to expand, the free mentoring service can be vital in ensuring that you as a business owner achieve both your short-term and long-term goals.
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NETWORKING
With strong links to key organisations and networks across Lincoln, such as the Federation of Small Businesses, Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Business Lincolnshire, City of Lincoln Council, and Barclays Eagle Labs, we are expertly placed to be able to help you integrate into the business community through networking and events.
Having started out with an office at Sparkhouse, before moving to Enterprise and now recently moving into Think Tank, I can honestly say that without the support and guidance from the teams at Sparkhouse and Think Tank I would not still be running a business. The staggered rent was a massive help starting out and the advice from our business mentor gave me the confidence to take the agency forward.
Thomas Atkins
Founder & Managing Director, Identity Agency
Student Enterprise
Entering the world of self-employment is one of the most rewarding and exciting things you can do, but we know that it can be difficult knowing where to start. At Student Enterprise, we help students and graduates gain the skills and knowledge that ensures they have a strong base to build their business from.
We engaged with 327 University of Lincoln students in the 2022/23 academic year, supported over 85 graduate start-ups and ran over 40 workshops and events. Our flagship event, the Student Enterprise Conference held in February, saw a record number of students attend in February 2024, with over 60 students joining us for the day. Find out more about the 2024 conference.
How We Support University of Lincoln Students and Graduates
Workshops
We hold regular, tailored workshops to help you gain the skills you need.
Mentoring
Our experienced professionals can help you with any challenges you may be facing.
Funding
We can help you to gain access to seed funding to kickstart your business.
Competitions
Elevate your profile by entering competitions and gaining recognition.
Networking
Meet likeminded people, and experienced professionals who can help guide you on your journey.
Student Start-Up Suite
We have a dedicated space that you can use within Sparkhouse to work from, you can get in touch with us to find out more about usage.