News

Students show off their business skills

A team of students from the Department of Accounting, Finance and Management recently reached the semi-finals of a national business competition, achieving third place.

The Price Waterhouse Cooper Universities Business Challenge competition is held annually and designed to give students the opportunity to improve their knowledge of the business world. The students act as Management Consultants in a fictional company, making all the critical business decisions that affect the company.

Team Synergy: from left, Marius Subramanium, Shabreen Izzath, and Yolanda Martin Camacho (far right) with the Royal Navy's graduate recruitment officer who hosted the event

Code-named Team Synergy, the five third year students Shabreen Izzath, Paul Birmingham, Jie G Wang, Yolanda Martin Camancho and Marius Subramanium entered the first stage of the competition back in November and overcame challengers from Universities including Cambridge, Royal Holloway and Hull to reach the semi finals.

Despite dropping from a team of five to a team of three, Team Synergy still managed to beat off strong competition to reach a credible third place. Speaking on behalf of the team, Shabreen said; 'The competition gave us an incredible insight into the real business world and confidence in how to handle decision-making and risk involvement under time pressure in a business situation. It was an opportunity to gain and share expertise with others. We gained an appreciation of how effective presentation and communication skills would help shape our career path.'

For more information about the Business Challenge competition visit www.learningdynamics.co.uk

Commercial success

What do helicopters, artists, footballers, physicists, martial arts enthusiasts, police, plastic surgeons and tax inspectors all have in common? They are all customers of the University's conference facilities.

Last year the commercial activities of the University and Students' Union were run through a company called Wivenhoe Park Management Ltd covering Wivenhoe House Hotel, campus conferences, the Campus Shop, the Post Office and laundrette facilities and had an astonishingly successful year.

Total sales increased by 21 per cent and net profit by 75 per cent, generating funds of £370, 000. Profits are returned to both the University and the Students' Union, who manage the Campus Shop, providing a useful source of income to support the main business of running a University.

For the first time both the Hotel and the Campus Shop each made sales of over £1million, up 18 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. All the staff who work in all our commercial operations, along with all the University staff who support the activity, such as those in Estate Management and Catering, make a vital contribution to its success - both financially and in ensuring customers leave satisfied, hopefully returning to use our facilities again and again.

So next time you are planning to celebrate a Christening, a Bar Mitzvah, a wedding anniversary or a retirement party think about using Wivenhoe House Hotel. When you use the Post Office or the Campus Shop smile as you shop - the profits are being ploughed back into the University rather than into Mr Tesco!

Also in the printed March edition of Wyvern:

• Packed schedule for Law Department
• HSBC update
• Diploma students investigate poverty data