College News

18th January 2012

Mobile phone giant meets enterprising students

Students from the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy had a special treat last week as mobile phone giant Richard Moat dropped in to the Academy’s West Midlands Hub at Solihull College.

The students, who are currently studying the Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, welcomed Richard, a Trustee of the Peter Jones Foundation, the Academy’s parent organisation, to the College’s Blossomfield Campus to discover his successful entrepreneurial career.

Until recently, Richard was the Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO of Everything Everywhere, the company that runs two of the biggest brands in the UK – Orange and T-Mobile. He is also the former Managing Director of T-Mobile in the UK and former CEO of Orange in Romania, Denmark and Thailand.

In addition to finding out about Richard’s successful career in the mobile phone industry, the students discussed the various activities and projects they’ve been getting involved in since they began their course in September, as well as discussing their business plans and aims for the future.

Birmingham-based Richard comments: “Living so close to the students at Solihull College it was the perfect opportunity to come in and meet them and find out first-hand what they think of the programme. I have only been involved with the Academy since August 2011 but already I am extremely impressed with the students’ level of enthusiasm and passion, and it’s great to see the range of goals and aspirations they have. I am sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future!”

Student Kyle Raffo comments: “It has been a fantastic opportunity to meet Richard and have such a high-profile business person be interested in our work. It was really good to be able to provide him with feedback about the course and also learn about his reasons for getting involved in the Academy.”

Aspiring entrepreneurs who would like to realise and achieve their business dreams can join the Academy at Solihull College later this month to study the Level 2 Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. After successful completion of this course they can progress onto the one-year Level 3 programme from September 2012.

From creating a full business plan and pitching to investors, to setting up and running their own micro-business, the Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship will allow students to develop the skills and knowledge required to start their entrepreneurial career.

For more information about the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at Solihull College visit www.solihull.ac.uk/pjea or call 0121 678 7000.