Enterprise Works in Thessaloniki

The first international visit of Enterprise Works, the entrepreneurial hub of the University of York

CITY College, University of York Europe Campus host in Thessaloniki ‘Enterprise Works’ (EW) of the University of York - a new business hub that helps businesses to grow and supports entrepreneurial activity. During this three day visit, Prof. Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Partnerships and Engagement), Sam Gardner, Director of Enterprise Works and Jayne Blizzard, Project Officer together with a group of entrepreneurs from the UK, Mr James Fearnley, CEO at Nature’s Laboratory Ltd, Ms Julie Macey-Hewitt, Head of Operations, TestCard.com and Mr. Ramanan Mylvaganam, Director, Asclepius Healthcare Ltd, were introduced to the SEE region and local business community, engaged in meetings and networking activities with leading businesses in their sector and participated in meetings at the Thessaloniki Innovation Zone. CITY College representatives, Prof. Panayiotis Ketikidis, Dr Nikolaos Tsorakidis and Mr Nikos Zaharis also participated in EW activities in Thessaloniki.

In this context, an event was held in the Innovation Zone in which Professor Kiran Trehan presented 'Enterprise Works International' which promotes international collaborations and networking and spoke about the immediate plans regarding the interconnection of entrepreneurship with the academic community at an international level.

EW delegates also had the opportunity to attend the European Business Angels Network Congress 2023 (EBAN). Prof. Trehan participated as speaker which was moderated by Prof. Panayiotis Ketikidis Co-Founder of the Hellenic Business Angels Network (HeBAN) while Sam Garner participated in a panel discussion.

We would like to warmly thank Costas Tramantzas for hosting Enterprise Works at the Alexander Innovation Zone as well as all entrepreneurs and organisaions representatives who participated in the meetings, namely Mr Emmanouil Vlachogiannis, 1st Vice President, Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Dimitrios Goulias, Economic Analyst, Greek Exporters’ Association (SEVE), Mr Kostis Kaggelidis, Chairman of the Board of Directors, SEPVE, Mr Anastasios Katsarkas, Commercial Director and Director of Operations, St. Luke’s Hospital, Mr Theodore Papakonstantinou, Partner, Deloitte, Mr Alexandros Papapostolou, Director, Papapostolou Healthcare Technologies, Mrs Markella Psymarnou, CEO, VIDAVO S.A., Mr Panagiotis Madesis, Collaborating Professor, Institute of Applied Biosciences at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Mr George Platanas, Director Greece & Cyprus, SeedBlink, Ms Velevska Aleksandra, Manager of OTC, ALKALOID AD Skopje, Dr Chrysoula Tananaki, Lecturer/Apiculture and quality assurance of bee hive products (Teaching and Research), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Mr Ioannis Deligiannis, Owner, b-honey, and Ms Lysimachi Slavi-Deligianni, b-honey for their invaluable input during the ‘Enterprise Works’ activities.

This was the first international visit of Enterprise Works. University of York and CITY College successfully set the ground for the development of relationships with the local business community and opportunities for collaborations and joint initiatives.