Byron Cole completed his BSc Business Economics at Greenwich in 2008 and has since become an award-winning entrepreneur, business start-up expert and mentor, and successful author of his book Self Made. Byron is also the founder of The BLC Group, Governor of the Harris Academy in Purley, and Co-Chair of Evolve Housing + Support. Byron was awarded an honorary degree at the University of Greenwich in 2022, and this year, was one of the Universities UK ‘100 Faces’, a campaign celebrating students who were the first in their family to go to university.
Self Made, co-authored with 2014 BBC’s The Apprentice runner-up Bianca-Miller Cole, and published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2017, is a comprehensive toolkit for anyone who wants to make a success of running their own business. Writing the book was a “dream come true” for Byron. “To see your book on the shelves and doing a book tour was an amazing feeling and experience. The book is designed to help others start, grow and stall their businesses or ideas without going through the pain that I had.” The book has become a no.1 best seller and a second book will soon be on its way.
In 2015 Byron was shortlisted for the Entrepreneur of Excellence Award at the National Diversity Awards (out of 20,000 nominations!). These awards aim to recognise positive role models from grass-roots communities and empower them to inspire others in diverse communities across the UK.
On choosing to study at Greenwich, Byron admits that he was impressed by the Greenwich campus. “The grounds and buildings were stunning; I could see myself studying here… Greenwich also offered a course (Business with Economics) that not many other universities were offering. To me that was perfect”.
His degree helped Byron develop many key skills which he took into later life, including presentations skills, time management and working in a team. While Graduation Day was a particular highlight, Byron also picks out “passing my quantitative techniques (what I would call non-logical maths) exams” as an equally proud achievement as “maths wasn’t my strongest point!”
Byron is also proud to give back to the university and in 2020 he was a judge on Generator’s Enterprise Awards. “I want to see the future leaders of tomorrow thrive and prosper. If I can help be a part of that then that would make me happy.” For those about graduate, Byron’s advice is to “learn how to develop meaningful relationships with fellow students and staff as your network is your net worth. Your personal brand story starts today”.
Image credit: This photograph was produced initially by Greenwich Students’ Union as part of their Black Excellence campaign
