Entrepreneurship through design

To celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, Design Council's Mat Hunter shares inspiring stories from some of the design-led entrepreneurs who have been a part of our Design Challenge programmes.

The great privilege in running our Design Challenge programmes is that we get to work with inspirational design-led entrepreneurs.

This week is Global Entrepreneurship Week "the world's largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare" and it seems a perfect time to share the stories of some of the amazing people that we have worked with over the years.

Some of those that we have worked with considered themselves entrepreneurs before they started with us, some used the opportunity of our Challenges to start their journey as an entrepreneur.

Whatever label we apply, these people use design practice in a very powerful way. Their success is never easy, with each step forward hard won and with frequent setbacks, but their belief is simply that everything in the world can be designed to be a bit better.

We hope you enjoy these short videos.

Trading Times

Founder: Jonathan Collie

Trading Times is an online social enterprise that matches the skills and availability of over 50s and family carers with the flexible ad hoc resource requirements of local businesses.  

Discoverables

Founder: Arfah Farooq 

Discoverables is an online platform that makes candidates who might not have traditional qualifications or a career path, more employable. The website encourages employers to hire people based on their skills, not just job roles, helping them find new talent.

Casserole

Founder: Carrie Bishop

Casserole is a peer-to-peer meal sharing service, helping neighbours share extra portions of homecooked food with those who might not always be able to cook for themselves. Casserole allows diners to order meals, and connect and pair up with cooks.

State of Ambition

Founder: Darshan Sanghraka

The State of Ambition website guides young people through a series of steps that help them to define their career goals and then to identify the support they need to achieve them - while showing potential employers how determined and focused they are.

Find out more

Find out more about Global Entrepreneurship Week

Learn more about our Design Challenge programmes.