About the Sir Peter Rigby Centre for Enterprise

The Sir Peter Rigby Centre for Enterprise was founded in 2024 through a generous philanthropic donatation from the Sir Peter Rigby Charitable Trust, led by the renowned British entrepreneur. The Centre has been designed to deliver a seamless ecosystem of support for enterprise, innovation and employability. Enabling students, staff and businesses to develop transferable entrepreneurial skills.

Vision

Our vision is to inspire the enterprising futures of our students, staff and graduates. We believe that entrepreneurship is not just about starting a business - it’s about developing an entrepreneurial mindset to embrace problem solving, build resilience, and make bold decisions.

Our long-term vision for the Centre is that it becomes an incubator for student start-ups and academic spin-outs, as well as being open to our graduate community, and a hub to accelerate new business development for the Liverpool City Region.

Mission

Our mission is to provide the right environment, infrastructure and support to transform ideas into impactful ventures.

Core values

• Inspire
• Include
• Innovate
• Enable.

 

The space

The Centre for Enterprise is located at the heart of of our campus on the ground floor of the Foundation Building, Brownlow Hill, alongside our award-winning Career Studio.

The Centre offers a dynamic, flexible workspace designed to cater to a variety of users with a range of spaces and tools to support your entrepreneurial journey, featuring:

• A dedicated start-up zone to kickstart your venture
• Spacious meeting tables and screens for collaborative work
• Private meeting booths for focused discussions
• Bookable boardroom space for professional presentations
• Meeting rooms equipped for all your needs
• A podcasting and media suite to create high-quality content

Additionally, the Centre boasts an open-plan workshop area perfect for group sessions and brainstorming, plus a self-serve coffee station to recharge between meetings and idea building sessions.

About Sir Peter Rigby

Sir Peter Rigby is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the UK today. Knighted in 2002 for his contribution to the IT sector, Sir Peter is also the first British businessman to ever be awarded the prestigious Legion d'honneur, or Legion of Honour, the highest award in the French order of merit. He is also the University of Liverpool's Honorary President for Enterprise.

Known as a serial entrepreneur, Sir Peter originally founded the Rigby Group in 1975 with a £2,000 loan. As founder and Chairman of the Group, he has since grown it into one of the country’s largest privately owned business groups, with interests in key sectors including technology, aviation, hotel, real estate, and finance. Today, the Rigby Group is worth more than £4 billion. 

As well as being an entrepreneur himself, Sir Peter also takes seriously his role as a mentor and leader in the industry. He plays an active role across the spectrum of communities in which his companies operate today, promoting the growth of new businesses, skills and future leaders through philanthropic ventures. It is through these ventures that Sir Peter founded the Sir Peter Rigby Charitable Trust, through which our Centre for Enterprise was funded.