News
Monday 10 March 2008
Online resource in line for top award
A budding entrepreneur based in Nottingham Trent University’s business incubation unit has reached the penultimate stage in a search to find the nation’s most enterprising student. Andrew Dean – who is developing an interactive and modern approach to online revision – has outperformed hundreds of young business hopefuls to reach the final ten in the HSBC Unipreneurs Awards and be in sight of the £20,000 prize.
Andrew, who did a degree in business, leisure and sport at Nottingham Trent University, before doing a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) in business studies, has created the E-Studies enterprise. As part of the business he is developing the revision website The Wise Revise, featuring quizzes and interactive games for GCSE students.
His business is based in the university’s enterprise development centre, The Hive, and is part of its Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education (SPEED) project which allows individuals to work on their business ideas while still at university.
Remarkably, four Hive-based enterprises had earlier made the final 100 entries of the competition. These included Amy Simons’ Pipalina business which offers handmade fashion accessories and gifts online; Dan Breen’s Uni-fied, a student starter kit comprising all the home essentials for new students; and Nathan Thompson’s Mystery Shopper enterprise, responsible for designing a range of modern and stylish greetings cards.
The HSBC Unipreneurs Awards shortlist will now be whittled down further to just five finalists who will be quizzed about their business by a panel of experts before the winner is announced at a gala evening at BAFTA in London on April 23.
Visitors to Andrew’s website will be able to test themselves on a host of topics or discuss problems with other students in chat rooms, and the site will offer a range of MP3 revision files and eventually mobile phone revision games.
Andrew said: “The idea came about because during my PGCE I was working with children who didn’t want to revise by sitting down and reading through text books. It would be fantastic to go on and win, particularly against such stiff competition from across the country, and would be testament to the first-rate support I have received from The Hive and SPEED programme.”
Student Enterprise Adviser at The Hive, Phil Clarke, said: “Andrew has been exemplary in the way he has developed his idea, refined the offer, resourced funding and taken it to the marketplace. Seizing the moment and the opportunity is crucial in a fast moving and ever changing commercial environment. This is the entrepreneur in action.”
ENDS
Notes for editors: The government-backed awards are sponsored by HSBC Bank and presented in association with the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE). It follows a recent study that suggests there could be up to 80,000 students running a campus-born business.
For more information visit The Hive website.
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