51Âþ»­

He’s worked with global brands such as Faberge, Camper and internationally-renowned Tate Modern and V&A Museum – and now consultant Cristian Zuzunaga is lending his years of expertise to support start-up businesses at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­).

Cristian is one of the expert mentors on 51Âþ»­’s flagship Crucible business incubation programme, which supports graduates and alumni who have a business idea or a fledging company with training, prototyping, mentoring and seed funding.

Every two weeks, a different mentor from industry leads sessions for the Crucible cohort on a different business topic, and the sessions are also open to SMEs and start-ups.

In his two-day branding masterclass, Cristian went through the importance of branding using well-known examples of brands, slogans and logos and how they evolved to appeal to customers at the time.

Cristian, who founded his own award-winning brand Zuzunaga, talked through his career, previous ventures and new projects at the session, which was also open to SMEs.

Working around the room of delegates, Cristian encouraged each participant to showcase their business ideas, bringing in examples of their work where possible. Encouraging critique from other delegates to help steer business ideas, he also shared his thoughts and advice, offering new directions and fresh perspectives in some cases.

One of the participants was Frances Deepwell, who is setting up a business focusing on arts and crafts for wellbeing. She said: “I have found great value in the trainer – he has been open with his story, and I found it relatable to my situation.

“With the room being full of such a mix of people and businesses at different stages of their journey, it has offered the opportunity to take in a breadth of different concepts and ideas…and lots of sharing.”

Cristian said: "It has been a pleasure to work with a room of entrepreneurs with a real mix of skills, and offer advice and support to try and help them grow their ventures. I look forward to catching up with the delegates in the months to come to learn where their journeys have taken them."

Masterclasses are open to businesses to attend, alongside Crucible members. The next masterclass, Finance Matters, is taking place on 26 and 27 October.  You can find out more information and