Students studying the BA Business & Management course from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David Carmarthen Business School created a unique competition for business students from Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion as part of their coursework.
As part of the ‘Changemakers: Creativity and Value Creation’ module, second year students were asked to create a business idea competition.
They decided to invite students from Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion to take part by creating and presenting a five minute pitch based on a new innovative sustainable business idea in front of a panel on UWTSD’s Carmarthen campus.
After the idea was set, students had to work together in order to create the event. Different roles were assigned to students from organisers to team leaders and floor managers.
Programme Manager and Senior Lecturer Jessica Shore from UWTSD’s Carmarthen Business School came up with this idea as a way to develop the students’ skillset, and for them to have an insight into the business industry. She adds:
“We were thrilled to be able to host the Sustainable Business Competition here on Carmarthen campus organised by the level 5 Business and Management students, the standard of entries was very high and certainly gave the judges some tough decisions to make.
“Whilst the students were on campus, they were given a tour of the facilities and teaching spaces along with a tour of the excellent sporting facilities available through the UWTSD Sports Academy.
“ Our level 5 students have created a fantastic event, that was well organised and thought through. We are incredibly proud of the commitment they showed during this task and it has provided them with an excellent opportunity to gain some hands of experience of event organising”
55 students from Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion attended the event, and eight teams took part pitching ideas from establishing vintage clothing shops to a sustainable food café.
UWTSD’s student Sophie Evans took the role as a Floor Manager for the event. Her role included making sure that all tasks were completed, supporting and engaging with her class for planning the event, and making sure that everything ran smoothly on the day.
She said:
“Through planning the event it has shown me how people can come together to support each other and solve problems that may arise when working as part of a larger team.”
Another member of the group organising this event was Laura Clarke. She adds:
“Our group of level 5 business students worked together to design and run this competition for the Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion students. We all enjoyed this project and learned a lot about our own strengths and weaknesses when planning the competition, and it was great to meet and spent time with the students from Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion, who all had inspiring and innovative ideas. We look forward to using the skills we have learned to plan further events for the benefit of the university and wider community.”
The judges decided after hearing each group that the winners were ‘Planting the Future,’ a small group from Coleg Sir Gâr, and the winning idea was ‘seeded packaging’ to be marketed to chocolate and confectionary companies, essentially biodegradable paper, and printed in bright colours with biodegradable inks, and ‘seeded’ with fruit and/or veg seeds. The wrapping would have information on the inside about the seeds it would contain, and would be designed to encourage gardening, ‘growing your own’ and an interest in the journey our food takes before it reaches us.
This event was also a golden opportunity to showcase the Carmarthen campus to the students from Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion and to show what the business course here has to offer.
Both Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion students thought that the event was a success and beneficial, and have asked for further events to be organised on campus.
Navdeep Randhawa, Business Lecturer at Coleg Sir Gâr, as well as at UWTSD’s Carmarthen Business School said:
”We are grateful to UWTSD Carmarthen Business School in giving our learners at Coleg Sir Gâr the opportunity to experience university life and present to an enthusiastic and experienced panel of judges.
“Our learners thoroughly enjoyed the fun day that was planned and arranged for them. It was fantastic to see the collaboration between the organisations to keep the dual partnership strong.”
