Promising young business minds were put to the test in the University of Lincoln’s own ‘dragons’ den’, as they competed for an annual entrepreneurship title.
The Lindum Entrepreneurship Award is presented each year to a team of final-year undergraduate students from the Lincoln Business School who most impress a panel of industry experts with an innovative business plan and professional pitch.
The competition has been supported by Lindum, the leading Lincolnshire-based construction company, for more than a decade, and invites students to work with their peers to create, develop and present ideas for new business ventures that could succeed in today’s challenging economic climate.
This year, a total of seven student teams made it to the final of the competition, which was hosted at the University of Lincoln on Friday 4th April. They stood before a panel of expert judges, which included Warren Glover, General Manager, and Sara Hobson, Employee Training and Development Manager, from Lindum Group.
Also judging the students from the University of Lincoln’s Business School were Director of Research Dr Gary Bosworth, Senior Lecturer Kevin Blanchard and Employability Manager Stephanie Schiaffonati.
Kevin Blanchard said: “The Lindum Entrepreneurship Award has been running for 11 years and I found the standard of business idea, research and presentation higher this year than any other. The students put a great deal of effort into the evaluation and validity of each of their proposals, and their hard work culminates in this impressive annual showcase. I am extremely pleased that we are able to engage our students in this stimulating process.”
On the day, the expert panel presented ‘QR ID’ with the award. ‘QR ID’ is the brainchild of students Rebecca Slater, Arturs Namikis, Carlos Del Rio Celorio, Isabel Ezcurra and Jing Guo., Their concept represents an add-on to the traditional Students’ Union card.
Acting as a virtual storage facility for important identification details about individual students, ‘QR ID’ would generate a unique QR code for each person and hold key information extracted from social media platforms together in one place. The concept would mean that with one swipe of an individual’s QR code, the user would be able to access all contact details, with the suggestion that the technology could also be rolled out to external businesses as a replacement for physical business cards.
Speaking about the winning presentation, Warren Glover said: “’QR ID’ presented us with a very imaginative concept, and through the students’ extremely professional pitch they delivered a complete package. The product engages with existing technology and could therefore become a very workable design, and it is apparent that the winning team clearly understands its target market.”
The team will be presented with the Lindum Entrepreneurship Award, together with a cash prize, at the University of Lincoln’s graduation ceremony later this year.
The entrepreneurship challenge supports the University of Lincoln’s award-winning ‘Student as Producer’ initiative, through which students work in collaboration with their peers, academics and industry partners to inform their own learning. The competition also assists students with their career aspirations following university, with a member of last year’s winning team going on to complete a paid internship placement with Lindum Group before securing full-time employment with a partner organisation.
