NACUE’s Chief Executive talks enterprise with Cameron

NACUE Chief Executive Johnny Luk discussed youth and enterprise with David Cameron earlier this week.

Johnny was at Number 10 as part of the Prime Minister’s Chinese New Year reception.

Johnny spoke to the Prime Minister about the incredible achievements of students within our network, and our enterprise societies.

His meeting comes shortly after NACUE was highlighted in Lord Young’s Report on Small Firms.

Speaking about the importance of NACUE meeting with policy makers, Johnny said: “With the general election so close politicians are no doubt preoccupied, but at NACUE it’s part of our duty to let politicians know that student enterprise is more important than ever.

“We have to ensure that policies that cater to the next generation of problem solvers are being introduced. We need to keep unlocking the our generation’s potential, as they will [help] fix the world’s problems.”

JohnnyCameron

Johnny told Cameron about the success NACUE enjoyed in recent months including hosting Europe’s biggest Student Enterprise Conference at Liverpool John Moores University. The event attracted over 600 students and graduates from up and down the country, and was a top 10 trending topic in the UK. The rise and success of modern China was celebrated by Cameron who gave a speech. He praised China - the largest economy in the world - for its commercial, trading and investment relationship. Cameron said: “There are twice as many British goods being bought in China today as there were just 4 and three-quarter years ago. So it is an extraordinary success, and part of the success is that Britain has a very clear message for Chinese businesses and investors, which is we want to be the most open and welcoming country that you invest in.” As the country approaches the next General Election there will be greater talks about investment, particularly investment in the next generation of entrepreneurs. NACUE looks forward to being at the forefront of those discussions, and will be giving youth the chance to be heard with our upcoming manifesto.

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Our Impact
Our Mission
Our model

We've achieved a great deal in a short number of years, though there's much more too do in supporting our mission of 'Powering the Enterprise Generation'.

32,000

Students

19,926

Event attendees

20,505

Followers

42,000

Reach

16,512

Businesses

43,439

Jobs

Powering the Enterprising Generation

Our mission is to support the development of education and student engagement throughout college and universities by championing student enterprise societies and peer-to-peer learning. NACUE started from an extraordinary movement in student entrepreneurship, providing young individuals with a platform to be experimental, creative and inspiring in their approach to enterprise and entrepreneurship, encouraging a bottom-up approach to inspiring the next generation.

Today, we see over 200 enterprise societies, powered by peer-to-peer groups, who are championing the success of young people throughout their interactive programmes by forging collaborative relationships with their institutions to provide greater experience and development opportunities for their peers. Establishing regional links with locals SME’s who are keen to open their doors to emerging talented, proactive and enthusiastic graduates perpetuates this.

Our work is dedicated to supporting the development and encouragement of entrepreneurship amongst young individuals and forms the sole purpose of NACUE. To learn more about NACUE and the services we produce, click here.

As a not-for-profit, we raise charitable donations that allow us to widen the opportunities available to young people in relation to enterprise and entrepreneurship, strengthening student engagement, the quality of education and connecting and representing student enterprise societies and student entrepreneurs worldwide.

NACUE is a charitable organisation that supports 32,000 students and young people every year. As funding becomes harder to obtain, we rely on the generous support of donors to ensure our programs can continue to change the lives and aspirations of the younger generation.

A donation of any size goes a long way to furthering our work and really is greatly appreciated. Every gift matters in aiding our mission of ‘Powering the Enterprising Generation' but we mainly rely upon the generosity of our members and alumni to do this. By making a single or regular donation you can make a big difference. To learn more about how you can donate, please follow the links below.

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Large national network

NACUE are delighted to have supported a huge number of student-led societies over the years. You can see the number of established student-led societies on an interactive map below

College

University

Society

Who we work with

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are at the very core of NACUE, everything we do is to better the startup and self employment ecosystem. We believe that entrepreneurs will shape the future, and we bolster this through our events, our network and our advocacy.

Students

NACUE works with students in Colleges and Universities right across the UK, helping support them in their entrepreneurial goals and connect them with like minded peers.

Educators

NACUE works collaboratively with educators and academics in supporting the development of entrepreneurial mindsets in young people.

Our events

Our events offer the young people we work with the opportunity to connect with our wider network, the experts and seasoned entrepreneurs in our community and the chance to be inspired to take the leap of faith into entrepreneurship. These events are attended by students and graduates from universities and colleges up and down the UK, as well as students from across Europe. Student Societies take centre stage at our events, alongside innovators, game changers and trail blazers of the UK startup ecosystem.

Varsity Pitch 2023 Competition

The Student Enterprise Conference 2021

The difference we make

Alex Deung

Society President, Entrepreneurs Durham

It has been a great pleasure working closely with NACUE. NACUE has supported me both on big and small issues within my role. Without NACUE’s support, Entrepreneurs Durham wouldn’t be where it is today.

Wendy Funnell

Head, Centre for Entrepreneurship

The pleasure of seeing young people start something from nothing and watching them as they’re growing is wonderful. If we hadn’t had NACUE, we couldn’t do a lot of what we’re doing now. I can absolutely, categorically say that.

FE Student

FE Student, Enterprise Society

I am enjoying it (the enterprise society) a lot, and it’s great to be achieving something real. So often in college we plan to the point of doing the activity but then never actually do it.