‘We want our students to transform the world’: how Sheffield Hallam primes graduates for startup success

Sheffield Hallam University’s career promise is creating a generation of bright young entrepreneurs who are unafraid to go it alone

When Emma Redfern walked onstage to be named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the UK StartUp Awards in 2025, it was a step along her career path she never expected to take.

When she embarked on her degree in fashion design at Sheffield Hallam University, she couldn’t have imagined it would lead to her launching an award-winning business that supports founders and early career creatives.

“One of the reasons I applied to Sheffield Hallam was that the university’s new home for the creative arts had recently opened,” says Redfern, 27. “Although I’d considered a freelance career, starting my own business just wasn’t a route I thought I could go down.”

Committed to championing enterprise and employability after graduation, Sheffield Hallam encourages students to embark on a year of work experience during their degrees. But, with fierce competition for fashion placements, Redfern applied to the university’s Work for Yourself scheme instead.

With support from the university, the year-long placement encourages students to run their own business, build entrepreneurial skills and generate income. Students have access to the iLab, a workspace that provides specialist facilities and support to student entrepreneurs.

“I’d always had little side-hustles, like selling on Etsy, so I thought it would be a good way of building up my experience while still being creative,” Redfern says.

During her year of working for herself, she launched The Calming Club, a self-care stationery brand designed to help people with anxiety.

“The university offered support with things like how to pitch my business, introduced me to other business owners and helped keep me on track,” says Redfern.

“That year essentially catapulted me into entrepreneurship so, afterwards, I pivoted into a fashion management and communication degree to learn business-development skills like marketing.”

On graduation, Redfern leapt into self-employment, working as a brand strategist for other wellness brands while still running The Calming Club. Today, she heads up Studio Self-Made, which helps creators, freelancers and business owners from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds to build their networks and personal brands.

Being named Young Entrepreneur of the Year was the result of Redfern’s dedication and hard work – but Sheffield Hallam opened her eyes to opportunities she hadn’t considered before.

“Even if you don’t go on to run your own business, there are so many transferable skills you can learn through entrepreneurship,” she says. “It’s hard for graduates at the moment, so it helps to leave university with something different under your belt – and that’s what Sheffield Hallam offers.”

In 2026, the university’s drive to ready students for their future careers has crystallised into a seven-part “career promise”, which prepares students for postgraduate success via hands-on learning, employer connections, lifelong career support and access to industry experience and expertise.

“Our students’ sense of what a career looks like is very different from previous generations, and our career promise reflects that,” says Prof Jennifer Smith Maguire, executive dean at the College of Business, Technology and Engineering.

“It’s about making sure they leave us work-ready, whatever form that might take. And of course, we benefit in turn – we bask in the halo of our students’ successes. They go on to do some wonderful things.”

One undergrad who’s already standing out is second-year student Josh Parsons, 19. “Before applying to Sheffield Hallam, I had the general idea that I’d like to launch my own business, but I hoped the university would help me understand what area I wanted to go into,” he says.

As part of his business management with enterprise degree, Parsons was charged with creating a working business model. Having designed and 3D-printed a vinyl-record stand for his father’s birthday, he focused his model on custom 3D printing – and quickly realised the business could be a success.

“There’s so much support available at Sheffield Hallam, including careers fairs, one-to-one business advice, startup workshops and tailored support from specialists in your chosen field,” he says. “All of that helped me hone in on my strengths and pushed me to make the business come to life.”

The result was his business, Print Deck 3D – and one of his first customers was Smith Maguire.

“After seeing my work at a pop-up shop organised by the Enterprise team, the dean messaged me asking if I could make a phone stand for her mother, who has advanced Parkinson’s disease,” Parsons says. “I worked with her to develop a design that wouldn’t be too fiddly for her mum to use, and she was delighted with it.”

Smith Maguire describes this collaboration as, “entrepreneurship in action at a very human level”.

“We give students space to promote what they do and to connect with others, and the pop-up shop is a great example of that,” she says. “As a university, our aim is to transform lives – not just by transforming our students’ lives, but by making sure that they can go out and transform the world.”

At the moment, Parsons juggles his studies with running his business, and his next step will be to complete a Work for Yourself year that will help grow his business even further.

“When I graduate, I plan to build a sustainable, scalable business that gives me some independence, whether that’s Print Deck 3D or something else,” he says.

“If you’re planning on launching your own business after university, I’d recommend Sheffield Hallam one hundred percent. You’re not just given the tools to build a business – you’re given confidence and encouragement too.”

Find out more about Sheffield Hallam at shu.ac.uk