Entrepreneurship and Creative Writing alumni collaborate to create marketing business in Spain

When Ben Penrose graduated with a Business Entrepreneurship & Innovation BSc(Hons) in 2022, he had already started his own clothing brand, a business partly funded through clothes sales on campus and his growing Depop platform before becoming its own successful vintage clothing shop. Now three years later, Ben has started a new venture in collaboration with English & Creative Writing BA(Hons) alumna Lowenna Edwards, after the two connected through Falmouth Alumni’s group chat.  

Deciding to merge their skills, the pair now work together on their own business-to-business lead generation companies, choosing to base themselves on the Spanish coast and support their clients’ LinkedIn needs.  

We caught up with Ben to learn more about how Mercura began, the process of connecting with another Falmouth alumni after graduation and how his time at Falmouth helped him to pursue a career in the world of business.   

Can you tell us about the start of Mercura? 

It was two years ago that I sold both of my previous businesses and started a new marketing company after my previous business partner decided to go a different direction. I now run Mercura remotely from the south of Spain after always wanting to move abroad. Creating my own business gave me the opportunity to do so.    

As the company is fully remote, our clients are based all over, including England, Germany, the US and Norway. As a business-to-business marketing company, we work with IT companies, AI companies, telecoms, business consultants and motivational speakers, helping to connect our clients with new customers via LinkedIn. 

You connected with your business partner, Lowenna, through Falmouth Alumni. Can you tell us more? 

A year and a half ago I shared a post on the Falmouth Alumni group chat which is how I met Lowenna. We connected and she introduced me to recruiters she knew, which is what I was originally looking for. As we chatted, she told me about her work, and it persuaded me to carry on with my marketing business and now we work together on shared clients. 

Our services fit together well, as Lowenna has a LinkedIn Content Agency and I have a LinkedIn Outreach Agency. We share customers and bring leads to each other; our businesses have grown side by side. Lowenna was already based in Spain and after visiting I decided to live here on rotation, spending three months here and three months in the UK.  

How has your time studying Business at Falmouth University helped with what you do now? 

Studying at Falmouth gave me the skills and contacts I needed to be able to do what I do now. I would never be in the position I’m in today without Falmouth.  

There is so much value in the people you meet at university, the contacts you make, the relationships you develop and the people skills you gain. The thing that has helped me more than anything is the connections I made. I loved the collaborative nature that is built into studying at Falmouth. For example, my friends who studied Photography helped me by photographing products for my first business, graphic designers created the logos, a Creative Marketing student ran the socials and friends studying Fashion gave advice on clothes. Having so many creative people in one place makes Falmouth the best place to start a business. It’s a little gem people don’t know about.  

One of my lecturers, Stewart Noakes, has been an invaluable support having introduced me to a network of people I work with now. We’ve kept in touch since I graduated, and he has pointed me in the right direction which has been incredibly helpful. Sam Perkin is another lecturer who has given me a lot of advice in my studies, in life and in my businesses since graduating. She has been a pivotal part in helping me grow my business.  

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