Shouting about Birmingham - An entrepreneurs vision to attract new brummies

Wei Wu completed a PhD in Business Management at the University of Birmingham and has now started a company called WeiPoint after obtaining a Tier 1 start-up visa:

My company WeiPoint offers a digital calendar service to highlight the best things to do in
Birmingham. We challenge the stereotype that Birmingham is not the funnest place to stay and we
support the local foreigners to explore this city better.

Compare with other event organising service, we are not selling tickets and charging the surplus of payment. We only collect the events around the regional city and present to the users with their preference. We aim to establish the local events portal for 'new brummies'.



Being an entrepreneur is always my dream. In the UK, the Start-up visa is the only way of being an entrepreneur legally for the international residence, either through investment or through endorsement. Fortunately, I was endorsed after assessment and justification of my entrepreneur vision and knowledge.

After doing my PhD in the digital technology sector from the University of Birmingham, my belief in Birmingham is increased. Birmingham is a innovative and vibrant city for digital startups. Therefore I made a decision to stay in this city and become a member of digital technology startup within this community.

The B-Enterprising team helped me - I obtained knowledge and skills of transforming myself from a student into an entrepreneur. There are many challenges for every entrepreneur at its initial stages either in the UK or in any other countries. One challenge I had encountered was how to attract and retain talents. It was heartbreaking when your first employee was leaving you. However, Birmingham is a metropolitan city and I believe it is full of talent which brings opportunities to entrepreneurs like me.

Being an entrepreneur means you will make different things happen. For students who are applying for the Start-up visa, it is always good to learn from the people around you, particularly those who are already on this path. 

I would encourage my younger fellows to knock on my door and have a cup of tea or coffee to discuss their business ideas.

I had fortunately been trained as a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham. I fully aware the excitements and pressure of doing a PhD programme and thinking of the future academic careers at the same time. I hope the PhD students can consider setting up a startup as an alternative approach of building their career. Arguably, creating a new business model is as fun as discovering new knowledge from academic research. Every good researcher should be also a good entrepreneur.


Written material by Wei Wu
Compiled by Bob Lee, B-Enterprising