Entrepreneurial support for fellow students

We’re proud of all our students, and we wanted to introduce to you Zubair Adil, a final year Economics BSc(Hons) student, who is reaching out to offer 1:1 support to three fellow students who are looking to start their own business.

Zubair not only co-founded his first business at the age of 13 but has since led a healthcare start-up making him one of the youngest CEOs in the UKs private healthcare sector.

In 2018, he also started volunteering with Cancer Research UK. This soon led to the charity recognising not only his efforts as a campaigns ambassador and those of his healthcare venture but also his ability to engage and contribute to Cancer Research UK’s work. During a recent interview, Zubair shared a brief story of his volunteering journey so far at Cancer Research UK:

“I had seen the exceptional work Cancer Research UK was doing and was eager to help those affected by the disease, having seen the negative impact of cancer on those around me. I previously managed two businesses which solved problems within the sectors they operated in and was eager to solve a bigger problem, that helped more people, which led to my start-up that aims to make access to healthcare for everyone a more effective and efficient process.

We offer tailored support to medical practitioners, clinics and healthcare businesses to help them expand and grow on an exponential scale. We’re presently building foundations with expertise of 25+ specialist doctors, solicitors, accountants, advisors and freelancers working with clients in Europe, Asia, America and Australia, helping them broaden their business growth with those looking to start a medical practice to established healthcare businesses, donating 5% of our profits to charities.

Cancer Research UK had seen my efforts as a campaigns ambassador and my drive to making a positive difference with the venture I was running and I was invited to be on their Volunteer Insight Panel. Even though I was the youngest member, I ensured I made the best contribution I could. Some of my responsibilities include creating new marketing strategies to attract more people to engage with Cancer Research UK’s volunteering projects (especially those from the 18-25 age demographic), ensuring relevant projects are in place for volunteers, providing feedback and advice for relevant resources, ideas and initiatives, assisting in the development of policies for volunteers across the charity.

People within the charity had seen my active engagement and were also following my start-up company’s exciting journey. I was at the point where I was determined that as the company was expanding, it continued to have an all-inclusive healthy environment where everyone is welcomed and treated equally regardless of their background. Last year I was given another wonderful opportunity by Cancer Research UK to be on their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board, using my background and experience, regardless of being the youngest member, to help drive yet another positive change. Some of my responsibilities include developing organisational equality, diversity and inclusion strategies and policies to help all key stakeholders across the charity – including staff, volunteers and the research community – feel part of Cancer Research UK regardless of factors such as their ethnicity or gender.

I’ve been very fortunate and am grateful for the opportunities given to me by Cancer Research UK and have met lovely people along the way. I highly encourage everyone to get involved with the charity as it’s very rewarding, so that together we can all help accomplish the goal that by 2034, 3 in 4 people with cancer can survive.

I thoroughly enjoy helping others where ever possible and would like to offer free 1:1 support to three students at University of Brighton who are looking to start their own businesses. I also plan on connecting them with the right people in various industries who can facilitate this; but most importantly I’ll be sharing with them the mistakes I’ve made, so that they don’t make the same ones and can instead have a smoother, faster growth”

If you’d like to connect with Zubair please contact us at business@brighton.ac.uk