THOSE who think they have what it takes to become the next Richard Branson could enrol on a new course for budding entrepreneurs at the University of Bath in Swin-don.

The new Open Studies certificate in Entrepreneurship is a three-term course consisting of meetings on Wednesday evenings.

Starting on October 2, it takes you all the way from finding out if the hectic lifestyle of running a start-up business is right for you to learning about how to take the first steps in setting up a company.

Tutor Christine Hardisty has an MBA from the Open University Business School and previously worked in IT.

She says the course will reflect what it is really like to be an entrepreneur, so students won't be sitting behind desks every week they will be learning by doing.

She said: "Entrepreneurs learn by their mistakes, so every week we will look at what we did in the last session and where things went wrong.

"We have several entrepreneurs coming in as case studies, so people can discover what the pitfalls are and how others have succeeded. One man set up a family video rental store that was sold to Blockbuster and another set up a DVD business that didn't work out; he'll tell the students how he learned from his mistakes.

"There will be an interesting mix of people on the course because, unlike in Bath, there is no obvious base of undergraduates and alumni, and an important part of the course is networking and teamwork."

The course has already attracted interest from Swindon firms keen on their staff learning how to think and act more creatively.

Mrs Hardisty added: "A buzz word at the moment is 'intrapreneurship'. It means employees working creatively and treating it as though they owned the business.

"That means always putting customers first and understanding about risk and reward."

For more information about the course or for a prospectus call Swindon 690909 or email

www.bath.ac.uk/Swindon/parttimecourses