Leeds University Business School Entrepreneur Finals take place at Helix

Over 160 students from 17 countries both undergraduate and post-graduate have taken part in the inaugural LUBS Entrepreneur Award which hosted its finals in Helix this week.

The award is sponsored by the International Research Collaboration fund and Pro Dean for International Iain Clacher, and has been led by Rebecca Padgett, Vita Kadile and Richard Tunstall.

Intentionally robust, this award see students take part in a series of sessions, workshops and events over semester two. Additional workshops have included Essentials of Business Planning and a pitching workshop.  Guest speakers have included Steve Baker (Founder and Business Coach) and Rachel Woolford owner North Studio and BBC Apprentice Winner 2024.  Students were also able to take advantage of mentoring from University of Leeds Alumni and Enterprise Ambassadors.  

 

A real case of working across boundaries of the wonderful ecosystems in the Business School, students have been able to build their confidence, experience new networks, work in different teams to develop their skills knowledge and behaviours for enterprise and commercial awareness to signal to employers that they employable and able to add value. 

32 groups made it to the end these were shortlisted to 10 groups who presented in front of a stellar panel of business owners including:

• Jane Slimming – Founder CEO Zeal
• Rachel Woolford - Founder and owner North Studio and BBC Apprentice Winner 2024
• Becky Dam - Founder and Owner Magpie and University of Leeds Enterprise Ambassador

 

The final winner of the LUBS Enterprise Award was BA Business Management Student Imogen Maguire presenting her idea for PowerNow, an app to help EV charging cars. Imogen, said:

Entering this competition has been brilliant. I have learnt so much from the process including creating a business plan and meeting successful entrepreneurs. 

In second place was Hana Quiros Rios and Sreynik Seng, who are both studying a MSc Global Strategy and Innovation Management and presented an idea for sustainable takeaway food packing. In third place was Oi Lam Sin, Oi Man Fung, Sz-An Luo and Yin-Tung Chen, who are all MSc Advertising and Marketing students and pitched an idea for a pet care service.  

Award leader Rebecca Padgett commented:

Seeing so many students take part so wholeheartedly, in their own time outside of their studies, with people from all around the globe to develop their skills knowledge and behaviour in enterprise has been a real privilege.

Following on from the awards, students will be offered the opportunity to work with SPARK, the University business start-up service, and will also be invited to submit for a Climb24 event, a UK flagship festival of innovation and collaboration.