Founded (1796) as ‘a place of useful learning’, entrepreneurship is in our DNA, and like any (200-year-old) start-up, the University of Strathclyde seizes opportunities, embraces change and continually strives for excellence.

Since launching our Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship in 2002, acknowledged as a leading European university-based centre of entrepreneurship, we have continued to significantly enhance our entrepreneurship provision. In November 2020 we committed to further investing in and accelerating our entrepreneurial journey by launching our institution-wide entrepreneurship strategy, Strathclyde Inspire (SI)– the first of its kind in Scotland.

Our vision is to create a world-leading university entrepreneurial ecosystem which does two things:

1) unlocks the entrepreneurial potential of our people.

2) creates an environment in which venture creation and growth thrives and delivers socio-economic impact.

Leveraging our global alumni community, and our position as an anchor institution within Scotland and the UK’s broader entrepreneurial ecosystems, SI is delivered through four strategic goals:

1) Developing entrepreneurial mindsets: positioning entrepreneurship as a mindset and set of behaviours that can be adopted by all;

2) Identifying & supporting entrepreneurial talent: making our entrepreneurial support services easily accessible – ensuring emerging innovators are aware of the practical entrepreneurship support available to them at Strathclyde;

3) Empowering entrepreneurs: providing access to our innovation-led opportunities with an unrivalled package of support at the heart of Glasgow City Innovation District (Scotland’s first innovation district), accelerating them towards investment and growth;

4) Scaling innovation-driven enterprises: addressing the early-stage funding gap through significant expansion of our investment capabilities.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald
Principal, University of Strathclyde
Knighthood for services to education, engineering and the economy,  Chair, Strathclyde Inspire Steering Group



Professor Eleanor Shaw
Associate Principal, Entrepreneurship and Education, University of Strathclyde
OBE for services to entrepreneurship and education,  Executive Lead for Strathclyde Inspire



Gillian Docherty
Chief Commercial Officer, University of Strathclyde
OBE for services to information technology and business,  Strathclyde Inspire Steering Group



Professor Tim Bedford
Associate Principal, Research & Innovation, University of Strathclyde
Strathclyde Inspire Steering Group



Fiona Ireland
Head of Entrepreneurship Strategy, University of Strathclyde
Strathclyde Inspire Steering Group



Professor Jillian MacBryde
Head of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Strathclyde
Strathclyde Inspire Steering Group

A massive thank you to all the staff involved in the delivery of Strathclyde Inspire. In particular: the Start-Up, Industry Engagement & Commercialisation, Investment and Ecosystem teams within the Innovation & Industry Engagement Directorate; the Entrepreneurship for All Working Group comprising representatives from all four Faculties, the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, the Education Enhancement Directorate, the Student Experience Directorate, and the Organisational & Staff Development Unit; as well as Strathclyde Business School colleagues from Strathclyde Executive Education and Development (SEED).

We are also delighted to have the support of our Student Executive through our Partnership Agreement with the Students’ Union which will embed entrepreneurship into the student experience.

Thanks to our Inspire Supporter Network comprising entrepreneurial alumni and friends; our Senior Enterprise Fellows; and generous donors, special thanks to the Charles Huang Foundation.

And finally, we work collaboratively with an extensive network of entrepreneurial ecosystem partners, together providing support at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey.