The NCME Network

NCME is the Network for Coaching and Mentoring Entrepreneurs. We bring together entrepreneurship educators and programme managers from around the world to share resources and develop practice. Find out more about the network, meet our members and co-founders, and find out how you can become a member of the NCME.

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What is the NCME?

The Network for Coaching and Mentoring Entrepreneurs, NCME, was co-founded through a research and practice collaboration between Dr Harveen Chugh and Victoria Nicholl, along with the support of Enterprise Educators UK. Our purpose is to enable enterprise educators and programme managers to share practices on coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs. We aim to provide the best support possible for entrepreneurs by sharing resources, discussing key themes and advancing knowledge on coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs.

Co-founders collaborating from Imperial and Warwick, Dr Harveen Chugh and Victoria Nicholl

The NCME celebrated its 3rd birthday in May 2023!

Virtual meetings per academic year

Entrepreneurship educators and programme maangers attended our in-person event at the Invention Rooms, White City, April 2023

Members from around the globe and growing!

NCME Members

Meet some of our NCME members. They have been with us since the start and play a key role in adding value to the network by sharing resources, taking part in the discussions and working together to advance knowledge on coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs. Read below to find out who they are, why they joined and how NCME has been useful in their role.
Jo Howorth
Jo Howorth

Head of Skills Development, Research and Innovation Service, University of Leeds

Why I enjoy being part of NCME: The ability to learn and share best practice with colleagues and mentors across the globe has been invaluable when setting up new initiatives at Leeds. I lead enterprise and mentoring activities; helping academic colleagues progress their careers, develop partnerships, impactful research and catalyse start-up ideas. Having such a large group of people through NCME who are open to sharing their ideas and experience has been a huge support and I highly recommend you to join.

Ben Cole
Ben Cole

Head of Strategic Projects at Loughborough University London

Why I joined NCME: I am always looking for ways for me and my team to be better. I guess I wanted a place to share experience, get hint’s, tips and tools to improve what we do and most of all learn. The network has been a great place to collaborate and I’d encourage others to join.

How NCME has been useful in my role: I’ve already taken from the network tools and tips which I have passed on to the team. They are using these on our programmes and it is making a big difference to those we work with.

Why others should join: The network is a great place to make connections with enterprise educators working to help others to grow their ideas. If you are the sort who likes to bring, borrow and improve then it is definitely a place for you.

Leah Thompson
Leah Thompson

Senior Knowledge Exchange Officer (Enterprising Oxford and IDEA) - at the University of Oxford

Why I joined NCME: I joined NCME after an EEUK session on mentoring, led by Imperial. We have a number of mentorship programmes for entrepreneurs at Oxford, so I wanted to meet others who are running programmes as well. Plus it is always good to meet people working in similar areas!

How NCME has been useful in my role: NCME has brought together a diverse group of people with various mentoring experiences and programmes – this has been very useful in shaping my thinking around the programmes I want to develop for under-represented groups in entrepreneurship.

Why others should join: The network is well organised and represented from Universities across the UK, with a wealth of experience and generosity to share it.

Dwain Reid
Dwain Reid

Student Enterprise Manager at Kingston University

Why I joined NCME: Joining NCME was a no brainer as it was being led by Dr Harveen Chugh and Victoria Nicholl, and even better had a focus on mentoring.

How NCME has been useful in my role: There’s not yet been a meeting where a practical solutions/tips/tools hasn’t been offered that I could introduce into my way of working. Hearing it from other people that are doing a similar role is great and there’s the obvious benefit of growing my network.

Why others should join: It’s great to be part of a network that is discussing the mentoring element of our role. The organisers have done well to create a space where everyone feels comfortable to share best practice. You’ll grow your network and learn something new at every meeting. The network is useful whether you’re 5 days in or 5 days away from retirement!

Chris Hiscocks
Chris Hiscocks

Enterprise Officer at University of York

Why I joined NCME: To find similar enterprise staff to compare programmes with, and steal ideas from! My role is quite unique at my University, so being new to the role when I joined NCME I found it a great way to meet people working in a similar role.

How NCME has been useful in my role: I have found listening to other members talk about their approach to coaching and mentoring really useful to both update and adapt the system I adopted at my University. It’s been fantastic to get some insight into different institutions, and see the wide variety of approaches we have adopted.

Why others should join: The group is very ‘open’ and everyone is able to get involved. Sometimes groups like this can be led by sharing good practice, which is sometimes useful, but this group works well as a chance to ask questions and concerns, as much as show off what you already do. It’s really friendly and I’ve already asked all the stupid questions.

A few words from the Co-founders

Dr Harveen Chugh
Dr Harveen Chugh

Warwick Business School

We are delighted to have setup the NCME. It was born on a sunny day in May 2020 with the support of EEUK following an Enterprise Exchange event that we ran with them on mentoring and coaching services for student entrepreneurs. The sentiment to keep the conversation going was overwhelming and the NCME was a natural spinout from that event. We are excited to continue the discussion of key themes in coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs and growing the network.

Victoria Nicholl
Victoria Nicholl

Imperial Enterprise Lab

NCME was founded out of an incredibly positive moment. EEUK had kindly facilitated a workshop Mentoring and coaching for student entrepreneurs: How to design and run an effective service in May 2020, which Harveen and I ran. The energy was high, and the contributions everyone was making during the day were brilliant, and we realised we didn’t just want this to be a one-off event. When we suggested that we would love to continue talking with everyone, we were thrilled with the positive response. The gap that NCME fills is about sharing practical insights and resources around coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs.

My hopes for the future are that we help colleagues across the world set up successful coaching and mentoring services for their founders, and that more startups thrive as a result. In the short term, I would like the community to strengthen its ties, and in the medium term for it to grow.

Visit the Imperial Enterprise Lab website

Our events

Our themes from 2021/2022:

The benefits of peer mentoring for entrepreneurs

(Autumn)

How we can get better at recruiting female mentors

(Spring)

NCME went to Startup Higher in Nottingham

(Summer)

Our themes from 2020/2021:

Recruiting mentors

(Autumn)

Managing mentor exits and relationships

(Spring)

Tools for tracking mentee progress

(Summer)

Join us

Apply to join the NCME (Network for Coaching and Mentoring Entrepreneurs)

Apply to join the NCME (Network for Coaching and Mentoring Entrepreneurs)

Warwick Business School and Imperial Enterprise Lab logos
Please apply here if you are an enterprise educator who would like to join the NCME and attend future meetings. If admitted, you will be sent an invite to the MS Teams group where we have a variety of resources and a discussion board. 

Your details will only be used to contact you about this network and are stored securely. 

We look forward to meeting you!

Dr Harveen Chugh and Victoria Nicholl
Co-founders, NCME