Events

Santander Awards for Excellence in Enterprise - June 2011

The REO together with Santander Universities strongly believe hard work, entrepreneurial spirit and flair should be rewarded. These awards are designed to acknowledge exceptional students who have gone that ‘extra mile’ this year, who have embraced enterprise and entrepreneurship with enthusiasm and passion. Students who can demonstrate true ‘excellence in e Enterprise winners nterprise’.

The four award winners really do represent the best of the best! Some run their own businesses in addition to their studies, all have competed in Business and Enterprise Competitions run on campus, all of them have been actively involved within our community running projects for local businesses and schools and all are committed members of an enterprise society.

Congratulations to all four winners of the Santander Awards for Excellence in Enterprise. Each winner walks away with £100!

(Picture left to right) Leanne Mendham (special commendation), Michael Ai, Patience Bada, Emma Flaherty, Rodrigo Castellanos and Sarah Oatham (Santander Universities)

Essex Boot Camp 2011

boot camp

The second Essex Boot Camp took place in March 2011. Six enthusiastic student teams representing Colchester and Southend campuses competed in this fast paced, intensive business challenge in a bid to win the £1500 prize fund. This event was supported by Santander Universities.

The aim of the Boot Camp was to give students access to real-life entrepreneurial expertise, the opportunity to pitch their ideas and receive the kind of feedback which textbooks can’t provide. What made this event different to any other was the team of six mentors – all highly successful entrepreneurs whose business experiences, expertise and advice were crucial to the students. They offered a once in a lifetime insight into the world of business start up.

During the two day event the student teams were led by their mentors through 5 core topics as they developed their business concept. These included market planning and research, business models, finance, building the perfect team and sales. At the end of the day the student teams pitched their business concepts to a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style judging panel.

Dr. Gwyn Jones, a University of Essex alumnus, was so keen to work with University of Essex students that he supported the REO and Santander Universities in the design and implementation of the Essex Boot Camp. He says, “All the mentors and I were genuinely surprised at the student’s enthusiasm and truly impressed at their determination to proceed with their business ideas. A number of the ideas pitched had real business potential. So much so we are very keen to continue supporting the students.”

The winning team, Ezeestore, pitched a business solution for student storage on campus. Team Ezeestore were Patience Bada, Bamidele Ayilara, TJ Morgan, Marcus George and Jermaine Odunaike. They walk away with a prize worth £1500 proving it really does pay to be enterprising!