Virtual student challenge launched to help organisations create positive change

NBS students work in groups to apply their knowledge to real business challenges

Supported by experienced academics, groups of students from a range of courses, including Business, Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Accounting and Finance, Marketing, and Economics, will apply their studies to real business issues and present detailed analysis, findings and recommendations to the challenge submitters.

The initiative aligns with the mission of NBS, to provide research and education that contributes to academic excellence with a positive impact on people, business and society. Importantly the challenge also ensures that every student engages in experiential learning and gets the chance to apply their learning to real organisational issues.

Head of Personalisation and Experiential Learning at NBS, Amanda Thompson, said: “#NBSBright is designed to help businesses of all sizes to grow and prosper through the bright ideas of the next generation of business professionals.

“Our highly motivated students have gained a wealth of knowledge during their studies and they are eager to apply their skills to help organisations recover, grow and succeed.

“We’re inviting businesses to submit a range of challenges, from building brand and becoming more responsive to customer demands, to coping with market volatility, capitalising on success, growing profits or meeting sustainability goals. The students can tackle a wide range of issues and undertake research and inquiry that organisations really need to do but perhaps haven’t got the time or resource to dedicate at present.”

#NBSBright provides an opportunity for organisations to gain insight and solutions to challenges brought about the pandemic, for example the need for business diversification, process restructuring or issues such as managing remotely and staff wellbeing.

This is the second year that #NBSBright has taken place, with organisations which took part last year expressing their gratitude for the student insights.

Emma Richley from Beauty Boost Training, which offers online training courses to the beauty industry, said: “I cannot express enough thanks for those that worked on my business challenges. It will be invaluable to the progression of my business and I fully intend to refer back to some of the presentations as I progress. I would highly recommend this initiative to any other business owners.”

Sally Coulden, lead artist and founder of Red Dog Glass Design, creators of fine art glass panels, commented: “I really love to get insights from the younger generation - sometimes we are too close to the business and fresh ideas are fantastic. I hope the groups keep an eye on the growth of the company so they can say they played a part in it.”

Rory Baxter, editorial director and account manager of technical writing and PR support firm, The Word Factory Limited, said: “It exceeded my expectations. Far more insight and information than I could have imagined. The students themselves were so confident and worked so hard to come up with solutions to my challenge. I couldn't have asked for more.”

Organisations are invited to submit a challenge or research topic before 30 June and will only need to commit to a virtual introductory meeting in October and a final presentation in December. For further information contact NBS Student Projects via email

NBS is accredited by EQUIS and AACSB, which are internationally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education, and also holds Small Business Charter accreditation (SBC), a mark of excellence for business schools with expertise in supporting small businesses, student entrepreneurship and engagement in the local economy.