Blogs
I entered Engine Shed in January 2020 as the Centre Director at SETsquared Bristol on an interim contract with a year to embrace the community and maybe tinker with a few bits of the well-oiled incubation machine. Roll on a few months to the challenges of the COVID pandemic and the resultant lockdown that would impose wholesale change on the way that we do everything. Not a standard year but an incredible lesson in how unwelcome upheaval can be good for progress. As the country…
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This month we feature a guest blog from our partner, Startups Magazine. Considering introducing an employee wellbeing programme in 2021, but concerned about the financial outlay and where to begin? Fear not, as it does not take a huge chunk of cash to create a successful wellbeing programme for your staff. However, you do need…
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On 22 October 2020, Rich Littledale and Amy Christenson, Founders of Startup People Clinic, ran an interactive workshop for SETsquared Bristol, to empower attendees to become effective leaders. Rich and Amy bring deep people insight from business psychology and coaching, as well as pragmatism from time in-house, and experience supporting leading startups. Here we share our…
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There I was about to write a blog on how great it has been since we reopened Engine Shed and welcomed people back into the office and meeting spaces in SETsquared Bristol. After months of strict lockdown and the summer exodus, September started with a reaffirmation of the joys and benefits of face to face…
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Socially Responsible Recruitment’s (SR2), Alicia Teagle, had a chat with our Community Manager, Paul Forster about diversity and inclusion (D&I), SETsquared Bristol projects, books and everything in between… I’ve been really looking forward to getting Paul onto Women Rock and super excited to collaborating with him throughout the rest of this year and beyond. We both share…
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On 30 April 2020, Dr. Steve Kitson, CEO of IMPAX Consulting, ran a workshop for SETsquared Bristol to help attendees understand the steps involved in developing a product and bringing it to market. In a career that spans academia, multinationals and startups, Steve has developed technology ranging from quantum optics to plastic displays and grew his last venture,…
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It was 5:05pm on a Tuesday evening, in the SETsquared office at Engine Shed. Steve Edwards (Centre Director) turned to me and said “well I guess tomorrow’s a good a day as any”. The full realisation of what had just happened started to dawn on me. We’d spent the day in a Covid-management planning meeting (just like COBRA, but fewer biscuits), and had made the…
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Advanced Driving instructors will tell you that if your car gets into a skid you must firstly correct the skid and then steer where you want to go. One of the common problems car drivers have in a crisis situation is they stare at the object they want to avoid and often crash right into…
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Among all the dark clouds, there are a few bright sides to the current COVID-19 crisis. One of the biggest is seeing how people across the country and the world are seeing opportunities to respond to the many and varied issues and finding hope in the horror. For SETsquared Bristol this feels fortunately familiar as…
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Many businesses are facing severe challenges in the current crisis. Although not a definitive list, hopefully the following thoughts will give a framework for founders to consider, especially in smaller businesses. This is my personal response – I hope you find it helpful when considering your own challenges – Rick Chapman, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, SETsquared Bristol. Business…
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