Origins
2001
CATALYST
The catalyst for the development of UKSEC was Science Enterprise Challenge (SEC) funding provided by the UK Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) that established 13 Science Enterprise Centres and consortia.
2001
Founded
2001 Established as UK Science Enterprise Centres (UKSEC). The catalyst for the development of UKSEC was Science Enterprise Challenge (SEC) funding provided by the UK Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) that established 13 Science Enterprise Centres and consortia.
2004
Rebrand
The importance of innovation in service provision and in discipline areas beyond science and technology was attracting attention and universities responded by extending their enterprise and entrepreneurship education across disciplines and beyond the curriculum into extra-curricular activities such as student enterprise clubs and societies. UKSEC resounded by widening its focus to disciplines beyond science and technology.
2005
Expansion
As SEC funding came to an end and the model of 13 consortia with one clear lead institution started to break down, UKSEC recognised that there was an opportunity to revise its membership model and every university in the UK became eligible to join. A new constitution was adopted and elections held for Management Board positions. UKSEC had become a membership organisation run by the members for the members.
2007
Milestone
Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) became the new name of the organisation to reflect its wider remit and reach.
2008
Milestone
In recognition of the excellent enterprise education being delivered beyond universities and the further opportunities to exchange good practice, membership was opened to Further Education colleges and other organisations with a clear enterprise education purpose
2008
Milestone
EEUK became an independent legal entity – a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.
2011
Recognition
A growing membership and successful annual conferences had generated a small surplus. The decision was made to return the surplus to the members through the launch of the Enterprise Education and Research Project Fund.
2014
Expansion
Organisational membership had been growing steadily since 2005 and finally reached the magic 100 – within these 100 member organisations 1000 individuals were connected to EEUK and to each other.
2016
Recognition
Following the sad and untimely death of EEUK Vice-Chair, Dr Richard Beresford, the Richard Beresford Bursary was introduced to support personal career development amongst early career enterprise educators.
2018
Recognition
Enterprise Educators UK rebranded and launched a new website to raise awareness of the impact of our members’ work and to support members to share, connect and develop their practice. At the same time the EEUK Fellowship program was launched.
2020
Milestone
EEUK Supported it’s membership through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The IEEC conference switched to an online format and Enterprise Education proved it could be flexible, adaptable and resilient.
2024
Today
International membership of the organisation grew substantially, with new members in Ireland, Ukraine and China. EEUK celebrated the launch of an Ireland Regional Committee to support Enterprise Education across the whole of the island Ireland. EEUK Also launched Pathway Networks and Special Interest Groups to further builds connections across our network.