Blogs

People working in Engine Shed's vibrant lounge

We’re expanding our team with three new Entrepreneurs in Residence

By SETsquared-Bristol / 29th June 2021

We’re delighted to be expanding our team with three new Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiR) from August 2021.  Anna-Lisa Wesley, Olivia Champion and Stewart Noakes have been appointed to join existing EiR, Rick Chapman.   The increase to a team of four EiRs is in response to our growing membership, which is currently at 85 companies. In 2020, we widened our membership eligibility to founders or…

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Jack Jordan-Connelly, Business Incubation Manager: The importance of networking

By SETsquared-Bristol / 28th May 2021

I moved to Bristol nearly 7 years ago now, a fairly common example of a Londoner that had no real love for hectic London life. I wasn’t long out of university but quickly found myself involved in the Bristol and Bath tech ecosystem and soon discovered my passion for early-stage businesses. In one form or…

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Nicola Hemmings guest blog: Founder burnout: From surviving to thriving

By SETsquared-Bristol / 22nd April 2021

Guest blog by Nicola Hemmings, Doctoral student in Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London Introduction This past year has been challenging professionally and personally for many. Building a business presents multiple challenges for new founders and the pandemic has only added to the burden by increasing levels of isolation and uncertainty. Reports suggest that…

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Monika Radclyffe, Centre Director: The right time for accelerated innovation

By SETsquared-Bristol / 31st March 2021

Last week we were all reflecting on a year since the first lockdown. Gosh, what a year it has been! I am sure everyone has their own reflections and personal experiences. I had given birth to my second son three weeks prior to that first lockdown, so I was quite happily nesting at home with my…

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Steve Edwards, Centre Director: 2020. Progress in a time of lockdown

By SETsquared-Bristol / 3rd February 2021

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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Startups Magazine guest blog: Instant win wellbeing at work – and how to get started on a budget

By SETsquared-Bristol / 11th December 2020

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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Great one-to-ones and other habits of effective leaders

By SETsquared-Bristol / 30th October 2020

SETsquared Bristol ran an interactive workshop led by Rich Littledale and Amy Christenson, Founders of Startup People Clinic, 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 top tips…

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Steve Edwards, Centre Director: Horses for courses and buildings for people

By SETsquared-Bristol / 1st October 2020

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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Paul Forster, Community Manager

Socially Responsible Recruitment: An interview with Paul Forster

By SETsquared-Bristol / 30th July 2020

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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How to turn a good idea into a successful product

By SETsquared-Bristol / 22nd May 2020

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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