WOULD-BE entrepreneurs in Hull were inspired, entertained and encouraged to achieve their ambitions thanks to a visit from Dragons' Den star Doug Richard.

Doug visited the University of Hull on Monday where he delivered a seminar on how to succeed in the world of business.

Born in California and now based in the UK, the successful entrepreneur has more than 20 years of experience in the development and leadership of technology and software ventures.

However, thousands remember him best for his appearance in the first two series of the hit BBC TV show where he became famous for his straight-talking, no-nonsense approach.

In 2008, Doug foundedSchool For Startups in a bid to give people the necessary tools to help them start better, more profitable, businesses.

And it is this desire to help people tap into their entrepreneurial ability that brought the sought-after speaker to the city.

He said: "We chose to come to Hull to start the roll-out of the School For Startup national tour.

"Being a bit of a geek, I started looking at places where we could make most of an impact.

"For example, I looked for places where there was high unemployment and lots of skilled people out of work as a result of the downturn who were seeking employment.

"Hull came up relatively high on the list."

Doug's passion for encouraging entrepreneurial spirit has seen him help thousands of business start-ups to launch and succeed, and more importantly, make a profit.

However, he strongly disputes the claim entrepreneurs have a in-built skill.

"I dispute that myth entirely," he said.

"It doesn't take a special personality to be an entrepreneur, I feel very strongly about that and part of my challenge is to overcome that myth."

Doug believes the recession is an ideal time in which to start up a business and there is no reason why this does not apply in Hull.

Speaking about a report by think tank Centre For Cities, which claimed Hull would struggle to emerge from the recession due to an over- reliance on public sector employment, he said: "It is good to start a business in a recession and that is the same in Hull.

"Over the past 10 years, the majority of jobs that have been created have been in the public sector.

"That is true for everywhere in the country, so Hull is not special in that respect.

"Going forward, there are going to be public sector spending cuts, but when you look at what those jobs did they had a useful role or offered a service that is still going to be required in the future.

"This will create gaps that will have to be filled by someone else."

Links

School for Startups

www.schoolforstartups.co.uk

University of Hull

www.hull.ac.uk