Gower College Swansea’s Enterprise Education Manager Sue Poole has been shortlisted for a major award which recognises her expertise and enthusiastic approach to the national enterprise agenda.
Organised by the team behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and the publishers of Fresh Business Thinking, the Entrepreneur Wales Awards is the only awards ceremony to acknowledge the hard work and inspiring stories of Welsh entrepreneurs and businesses in Wales.
Passionate about encouraging entrepreneurial spirit in young people – from primary school to university - Sue has played a key role in the successful ‘Primary to Professional’ project which won an Enterprising Britain Award 2014 and went on to receive a ‘Special Mention’ at the SME Assembly in Naples.
Prior to that, she was instrumental in the launch of the college’s Entrepreneurship Academy (the first of its kind in Wales), helped to set up the Young Chamber of Commerce and worked tirelessly to support the Young Business Dragons initiative.
Sue has already been recognised nationally for her work, being named ‘Business Mentor of the Year’ at the 2012 Women in Business Awards, held in association with PwC.
“Sue is the absolute driving force behind promoting the delivery of entrepreneurial skills across primary, secondary and further education in Swansea,” says Cllr Mike Day, who nominated her for the award. “Sue felt that there needed to be earlier engagement with learners to introduce them to essential entrepreneurial skills including creativity, innovation and risk taking.”
“Sue is not the kind of person to rest on her laurels however, and is currently focused on the setting up of a new social enterprise called the Centre for Entrepreneurial Education, which aims to ensure that all this good work is sustainable in the long term as most projects are currently funded by commercial sponsorship rather than government grants.”
“I’m delighted to have been nominated for this award,” adds Sue. “To be shortlisted in the ‘Entrepreneurs’ Champion’ category is fantastic, as I know the competition would have been fierce.”
The awards ceremony will take place on 12 November at the National Museum, Cardiff.
Photo: A Primary to Professional event held at Sketty Hall in 2014 - Sue Poole is pictured (left) with Edwina Hart AM, Cllr Mike Day and local school pupils.