The new 'intrapreneurs'

By KATIE TAYLOR FOR MAILONLINE
Updated:

 

Staff with entrepreneurial spirit, dubbed intrapreneurs, are becoming ever more important to businesses.

Reshma Patel

Reshma Patel has the backing of a global brand

'Recognising entrepreneurial talent should be a key part of employers' recruitment strategies,' says Hannah Bourne, head of communications at the national Make Your Mark campaign to encourage enterprise.

'They need to provide opportunities within the workplace.' Yet many companies remain cautious. 'The worry is that people with really good ideas will leave to start up on their own,' says Bourne. '

But by giving them a workplace, a salary and support for their ideas, that is unlikely to happen.' In 2005, Claire Purchase, 27, joined recruitment firm Fresh Minds, in Holborn, central London, hoping to make an impact on the business with some of her own ideas.

Claire, from Hammersmith west London, is now an account manager with the firm and says she has not been disappointed. 'I've devised new marketing campaigns and I'm now working on projects to expand into the public sector and interim management markets,' she says.

'The company founders encourage new ideas and as long as you can demonstrate an understanding of the business impact, they let you get on with it and provide support.' Organisations within traditional sectors such as banking are also warming to the idea of intrapreneurship.

Reshma Patel, 38, from Hounslow, west London, is a senior financial planning manager at HSBC. 'My role is like running my own business,' she says.

'I have all the tools I need in terms of contacts, products and training, and the freedom to create new opportunities and solutions for my clients with the backing of a global brand.'

But what are the rewards for the intrapreneur? Heather Wilkinson, founder of Striding Out, which provides business and networking support for entrepreneurs, insists that the majority are not driven by profit.

'They enjoy the satisfaction of seeing their ideas become reality and appreciate the impact that has on their future career prospects,' she says.

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