News Archive

A new academic year, a new series of Interviews &ellipse; – University of Reading

The opportunity to learn from an experienced entrepreneur – and mix with some of the key players of the region's business community – is on offer this autumn with a new series of 'Interviews', organised by the University of Reading's Business School. The Interview places an experienced entrepreneur in front of an audience of business-people who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs themselves, are perhaps in the early stages of their own companies, or are keen to make contact with other like-minded people. This year's series will incorporate nine Interviews. The first three of which are: Thursday 29 September – David Pullinger, Blue Ridge Management Thursday 27 October – John Cavill, Intermezzo Ventures Tuesday 15 November – Wasim Ahmed, The Chilli David Pullinger, of Blue Ridge Management, kicks off the series on Thursday 29 September. After 25 years at a number of large corporates, including Thorn EMI and Legal & General, David set up Blue Ridge Management in 2001. The company provides coaching and training services, psychometric testing and interim management services. "Our first Interview this year looks at an area of entrepreneurship too often neglected or overlooked – HR and training," said Becky Miller, the Business School's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Manager. "Being an entrepreneur is as much about having the right people as having the right drive and ideas. Nothing will quash that spirit and drive quicker than the wrong people in post or the right people with poor motivation. Most reputable entrepreneurs will tell you they'd rather have an A team delivering a B business plan than a B team delivering an A plan. The core team is absolutely integral to the start-up businesses success." The series of Interviews continues on Thursday 27 October with John Cavill. In 1979, at the tender age of 30, John founded and was managing director of the UK subsidiary of Data Translation Inc, a US manufacturer of microcomputer products. In 1988, he went on to start up Datatec, a networking services business which achieved worldwide sales of US$1.1 billion in by 1999. Wasim Ahmed, who currently works in strategic marketing for UK-based Imagination Technologies, will bring the series to a close on Tuesday 15 November. In the past, he has worked for Hitachi and started the firm's move into the car navigation market – taking the company to 90% market share. He also co-founded The Chilli, a journal tracking technology start-ups read widely by entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. "With the calibre of our speakers, all three of this year's Interviews will be informative and entertaining," said Becky Miller. "The interviewees share lessons learnt, pitfalls to avoid and useful knowledge, mixed in with the occasional amusing anecdote. The most important factor is that they have a story to tell with useful information to impart." The Interviews are free to all attendees, but it is essential to register beforehand by emailing s.j.glanville@rdg.ac.uk End For media enquiries only, please contact Craig Hillsley, the University's press officer, on (tel) 0118 378 7388 or (email) c.hillsley@rdg.ac.uk