The Hull Emporium gives budding businesspeople the chance to showcase their products and services, and receive business support
A pop-up shop designed to give young entrepreneurs the opportunity to test their products and services has launched in Hull city centre. The Hull Emporium will also give budding businesspeople access to network of experts offering advice on a variety of business topics.
It has been set up by the Making Changes for Careers (MC4C) programme, which helps young people in the city to develop their enterprising ideas, and giving them the skills and knowledge to start-up their own ventures. Young people working in digital, retail, joinery, graphic design and even walking tours are among those who have already used the Emporium, on Paragon Street.
Melissa Foster set up Melissa Foster Design about a year ago after trying some other ideas and has now progressed from market stalls to direct commissions. She said: “My earlier work didn’t really align with my interests in music and merchandise. Now I’m doing posters for gigs and t-shirts with band logos. There’s a big music community locally.
“I was doing it as a hobby at first and some local bands got in touch and said they liked my work so I have developed my own style. MC4C have given me loads of business advice which is really important for what I am doing, and I feel as though I’m equipped to run a business now.
“I normally work from home so it’s nice to have the opportunity to work in person. I’ll be able to reach a lot more people by working here.”
Cari Hakes is the manager of Business & IP Centre (BIPC) in Hull, which provides advice through the public library network in city and with visits to business premises. She had presented to young entrepreneurs at Bilocca House and met with Melissa at Hull Emporium.
She said: “Melissa wanted advice on copyright so we met at the Hull Emporium opening where I also took the opportunity to raise awareness of how we can help. It wouldn’t be feasible for the young entrepreneurs to set up a facility like this themselves so MC4C has provided a great opportunity. There are so many questions young entrepreneurs have about what they can and can’t do and they can come here and find the answers.”
Jamie Edwards, owner of 3-D printing business Edwards Industries, said The Warren Youth Project in Hull opened his eyes to some career options and then signposted him to MC4C. He said: “The Warren showed me digital skills and 3-D printing, and I fell in love with it. They directed me to MC4C for help in setting up a business. I did some sessions and got a grant to get started.
“I’m working on home décor at the moment and planning to expand into footwear and clothing – you can print anything! I have learned a lot from MC4C – things like tax, money management, marketing. The Emporium gives us all a big opportunity.”
Cllr Cheryl Payne, the Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull and Admiral of the Humber, officially opened the Emporium at a ceremony attended by some of the entrepreneurs and key people from Hull City Council’s economic regeneration team and city business community. The hub aims to build on the success of a Christmas pop-up at Hepworth Arcade last year.
Paul Smith, youth enterprise advisor at MC4C, said: “We wanted to provide something longer term to support young entrepreneurs and came up with Hull Emporium as a retail outlet which can also be used as managed workspace – a place where our young entrepreneurs can meet business contacts and promote their products and services.
“It also adds to our network of community locations where people interested in developing entrepreneurial ideas can come and get the advice and support they need.”
The Hull Emporium is open between 10am-4pm, from Monday to Friday, until March 2026. MC4C is relocating from Bilocca House to 161 High Street, which is currently undergoing renovation to create a Youth Enterprise hub for the city.