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Santander Entrepreneurship Semi-Finals 2019 at NTU

Supporting entrepreneurship and enterprise at NTU with Santander

    Santander awards 2019

    Nottingham Trent University hosted the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Central Semi-Finals 2019 on 27 June as part of a series of regional heats. This collaboration comes as part of a long standing and valued strategic relationship with Santander.

    Santander award 2019

    About the awards

    First launched in 2011, the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards has grown to be one of the UK's largest student and graduate business pitching competitions. The awards take applicants through three stages of the competition that provides them with the experience to help grow their business. The competition rewards entrepreneurs by offering cash prizes, mentoring and start-up support and has currently given £420,000 to small and start-up businesses.

    NTU Semi-Finalist

    This year the competition consisted of 60 semi-finalists from across the UK including Sektre Limited.

    Sektre was initially created as a loudspeaker design and manufacture firm, an ambition of founder and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) Product Design graduate, Liam Martin.

    Liam devoted the entirety of his final studies to the brand, focussing on the transformation of the acoustics industry. He is now pushing to bring his creations to life whilst also exploring the realms of conceptualisation and 3D art through product rendering.

    Working in association with NTU’s business development program at The Hive is enabling Liam to accelerate his development by accessing dedicated advisor and support facilities for his business. Liam has since had his work shown at design exhibitions, where he has received great feedback on the project. He is now looking for investment so he can take it into full market testing.

    ‘The Hive are proud to continue working with Santander to provide NTU students and graduates opportunities for their business ideas. The awards have provided a key platform for entrepreneurs such as Liam to develop and grow their start-ups and we will continue to work with him to offer mentoring and help bring his product to market.’
    - Megan Powell, Enterprise Innovation Centre Manager, NTU

    'Holding the semi-finals of the Santander Entrepreneurship Awards at NTU was a fantastic showcase of the partnership between Santander and the University which goes from strength to strength. The standard of young entrepreneurs pitching on the day was incredibly high and gave the judges quite a challenge in selecting those to progress. We look forward to working with Liam and Sektre in the future to support his business growth'
    - Robert Simmonds, Deputy Relationship Director, Santander Universities

    NTU Business Support

    The Hive and its dedicated start-up support for entrepreneurs is one of many small business support programmes available from NTU to small and medium organisations. Discover how your business could benefit from NTU support, from start up to scale up.

    NTU’s collaboration with Santander is one of the strategic relationships NTU has with large organisations across the UK. Visit our website to find out more about our Strategic Partnerships

    Published on 10 July 2019
    • Category: Business; Current students; School of Art & Design

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