"The future of business is social,” say entrepreneurs at campus careers event

Sophi Tranchell

Two successful social entrepreneurs inspired students, graduates and staff with their career stories and advice for budding entrepreneurs in an event last night (12 February) at the Careers and Employability Centre.

Sophi Tranchell, the chief executive of Divine Chocolate and co-chair of Social Enterprise London, described how she and her team had managed to develop their social enterprise idea: an award-winning chocolate manufacturer succeeding in the fast-moving consumer-goods business, while at the same time improving the lives of cocoa farmers in West Africa through socially just Fairtrade principles.

"The future of business is social,” said Sophi, who explained how social enterprise could create a positive legacy driven by a strong social mission.

Tom Druitt, managing director of The Big Lemon, explained that it started with a chat in the pub and a grumble about buses - and has now developed into an almost iconic service with a fleet of lemon-yellow buses that use waste cooking oil as fuel.

After the event, many students in the audience said that they felt motivated to take their entrepreneurial ideas forward and enter the University’s StartUp Sussex competition - with the possibility of winning up to £2,000 and mentoring support from the Sussex Innovation Centre, based on campus.

StartUp Sussex is organised by the Careers and Employability Centre and the Sussex Innovation Centre to encourage entrepreneurship on campus and beyond.