Ole Fjelberg was at Flux 2010 as a member of the Queen Mary, University of London team. Originally from Norway, Ole is making a big splash in the UK not only as the founder of the Queen Mary Investment Club but as the man behind the UK franchise of One Piece a new clothing phenomenon from Norway. Read more about Ole here - Ole’s profile
Top student entrepreneurs from 33 UK universities attended an intensely competitive final of Flux 500 – a business challenge created and run by Working Knowledge. See some video highlights here.http://www.vimeo.com/10614021
Hosted by Nottingham Trent University, Flux 500 is now the largest inter-university enterprise competition in UK.
As part of the fast-paced, two-day competition, teams of six students were challenged to create a new business division for Remploy, the national provider of employment services and employment to people with barriers to work. Over 40 business experts, from companies such as event sponsors Experian, Backup Direct, KPMG, and a range of other large and small organisations were on hand to guide the students.
During the competition finals, the team had just five minutes to pitch their strategy to the business experts – who went from consultants in the day to ‘dragons’ in the evening – before facing rigorous questioning and receiving feedback.
After the preliminary heats, four teams from the University of Bedfordshire, University College Plymouth MarJon, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Bristol were chosen to compete in a final head-to-head challenge.
With only 15 minutes to prepare, the teams then faced a tense press conference-style grilling from four of the toughest business experts. After all the votes were counted the University of Bedfordshire came out as Flux 2010 champions.
Bedfordshire team member Greg Dorban said: “Winning was a fantastic feeling! To come top out of over 30 leading universities is just unbelievable. Obviously we went there to win, but never expected it, especially after seeing and hearing our competition.” Manjunath Basapoor another member of the team added: “I learnt some new skills and tools like XING, which are quite useful especially in preparing business plans. This win is a great credible addition to my CV, and this happened at the right time as I will be entering the job market after my MBA.”
The final day of Flux included the ‘Expo’ – a recruitment fair for students to find out about employment opportunities and take part in workshops to improve their employability skills. The event also gave employers the chance to speak to students who had impressed them during the competition and several approached students as a result of their success.
Flux 500 was developed and is run by The Working Knowledge Group, which bridges the gap between education and the workplace. This year’s event was sponsored by Experian, Backup Direct, NCGE, The Greater Nottingham Partnership and the Nottinghamshire City & CountyEmployment and Skills Board, with support from Experience Nottinghamshire.
Chris Hall, business manager at competition host, The Hive, said: “There were a lot of extremely dedicated people who made this a very exciting and engaging event, from the students, to the business experts and the Hive entrepreneurs who came along to help. It was very enjoyable and we had lots of positive comments about our newly refurbished Newton building where the event was held.”
Sophie Neville (FLUX 2007) and Lee Fordham (FLUX 2008 ), have got together to tell us exactly what they got out of their experience at FLUX. We thought you would like to share this with your students and colleagues, to inspire students to step forward and take up the challenge.
Sophie and Lee say in their own words the effect FLUX has had on them and what your students can expect to get out of attending FLUX 2010.
Lee Fordham, a Sociology 3rd Year Student, says: “I got all the experience employers are looking for. Team work, initiative, leadership, time management, working under pressure and presenting skills… It has made me much more confident in all areas of business.”
Companies recruit at FLUX. Where else to find the UK’s most enterprising and innovative students?
Peter Bailey, a FLUX 2009 team member from Surrey University, got in touch with us this week to let us know what a difference FLUX has made to him. He was really buzzing so we thought we would share his story with you…
“Taking part in FLUX 2009 was a fantastic experience for me, without it I wouldn’t be in the position I am today.
After attending a few assessment centres with large corporations I was unsure which direction to go in. However, by attending the recruitment sessions as part of FLUX I won my first work placement at Backup Direct. I think FLUX’s biggest strength is recruitment, in particular that it’s a two-way process. Recruiters are able to observe you in lots of different, challenging scenarios and as a potential employee, you are able to get to know the people you may be working for and talk to them one-to-one, in an informal setting.
I particularly liked the fact that it involved students from all over the country and that everyone taking part was so keen to get involved and learn more about the business world. The experts’ input was invaluable too, I found the ‘elevator pitch’ session especially inspiring. Also the Focus Group sessions, with a designated expert, were incredibly useful too.”
FLUX is back! Now in its 5th successful year we are delighted to announce we are now inviting entries for next year’s competition, delivered in partnership with Experian.
FLUX – the annual inter-university competition – is a proven way for your students to boost their employability and enterprise skills, meet top-class recruiters, enhance their CVs, improve interview skills and meet new people. Oh, and have a lot of fun too!
Over 30,000 students from more than 100 UK universities have taken part in FLUX, and it continues to go from strength to strength.
How does FLUX work? In a nutshell, teams of six spend 36 hours solving real business problems with experts from some of the UK’s most dynamic companies, judging them in Apprentice meets Dragon’s Den-style pitches and challenges. More than 60% of the students who have taken part were from non-business related subjects. FLUX is open to all who would like to challenge themselves and boost their employability skills.
What do they win? The title of FLUX National Champions 2010 and £500 cash each.
FLUX 2010 takes place on 29th – 31st March 2010 in the vibrant city of Nottingham.
If your University would like to take part then please let us know by 23rd November 2009. You do not have to register your specific team members until two weeks before the event (12th March 2010).
To find out more or to register your interest email us on FLUX@twkg.net
Flux 2009 was another hugely successful year for the national inter-university competition with 170 students taking part in the Grand Final. The University of Ulster triumphed, despite stiff competition from 29 other universities across the UK, to be crowned Winners of FLUX 2009 and to scoop the £3000 prize money.
Dr Cecilia Hegarty coordinator of the Ulster team said:
“The team worked tirelessly for two days on developing a social networking website with a difference. They concentrated on a not-for-profit business model which allowed travellers to backpack across the globe, receiving free accommodation in return for undertaking work tasks.The six final year students, Stella So, Leanne Leighton, Chris Halliday, Chris Cupples, Matthew Gray and Laura Tate demonstrated how they could apply their enterprising skills when exposed to the high pressure environment that is FLUX.”
The team greatly valued the support given to them from some of the UK’s top businessmen and women at FLUX and learnt a huge amount from pitching to 50 ‘dragons’ and an audience of over 250 students and staff.
The Grand Final for Flux was held at the University of Plymouth and the hosts were eventually Crowned Flux Champions for the second year in a row!
Six students from the University of Plymouth are celebrating, having been crowned national champions of FLUX 2008, the largest student enterprise and employability competition in the UK. Close to 8,500 students signed up to take part in FLUX this year, and over the last two months, 100 universities have been battling to secure one of ten places in this week’s two-day Grand Final.
All the challenges (scenarios) for the Grand Final were based on established businesses that have identified a specific growth agenda that is current and real for them and would benefit from some fresh eyes. All of the businesses operate on an ethical basis or have a strong ethical stance. The University of Plymouth team worked on the Frank Water Challenge. (www.frankwater.com)
Congratulations to the runners-up team from the University of the West of England who worked on the Better Food Company Challenge (www.betterfood.co.uk). The two teams went head to head in a ‘Press Conference’ where each team needed to make a public statement about a potential health risk to customers from product contamination.
Having also won last year’s competition, University of Plymouth hosted the Grand Final and Vice Chancellor Wendy Purcell presented the winning team with their £3,000 cash prize. At the presentation, Wendy said: “We’re delighted to be hosting this year’s final, particularly in the Roland Levinsky Building, which has come to be a symbol of our links with the city of Plymouth and the region’s businesses. It also houses our brand new Formation Zone which supports graduates when starting their own business.”
“Naturally I’m thrilled that Plymouth has retained the title of FLUX national champions, but all the teams deserve to be congratulated for the way they approached this challenge. Their intellectual effort, outstanding team-working and presentation skills made this a great final and I’m convinced that the 60 students that took part in the final represent the cream of our next generation of business leaders.”
The judges had an incredibly difficult task, with each team developing and presenting a compelling case for their business. But the team from Plymouth had the edge, as one of the business experts, Andy Martin from Trimedia, said: “We were particularly impressed by the team’s professional approach and the clear conviction that they demonstrated to achieve their business goals. The quality of the students’ work over the two days has been incredibly high, but the real value for me is that I have seen people today that I wouldn’t hesitate to employ.”
FLUX is now in its fourth year and at its heart is one of the company’s core business tools, Xing, developed in partnership with Cambridge University, and designed to help businesses identify and achieve their key business goals.
James Lott, from Working Knowledge, said: “FLUX has grown over the last three years to be a great competition for students and business experts and this year has been the biggest and best yet. With FLUX, we aim to help bridge the gap between academia and business and to enable students to learn and demonstrate key skills which will help not only improve their employability, but also give them the ability and confidence to embark on a successful business career”.
Fittingly the last word was given to the winning Plymouth team. Team leader Katrina Gibson said: “This has been an absolutely amazing experience and I feel privileged to have taken part and represented my university. I’ve certainly improved my understanding of business and developed some key skills that I know will be invaluable throughout my career. It was a fabulous opportunity not only to network with some inspirational people, but also to make a lot of new contacts and friends”.
The pressure is now on next year’s Plymouth team to make it a hat-trick of victories!
The University of the West of England’s Flux2008 team has just won the South West regional heat held at Bath University.
Flux is the UK’s largest Student Enterprise and Employability competition and UWE’s student team comprising Ady Harold, Alan Spence, Mohsin Khan, Nanda Kumar, Julian Henry and David Hayhurst did extremely well to win this stage. They beat off challenges from the region’s other universities to win first prize of £500 and are now through to the national finals at Plymouth on March 17/18 with the chance of winning a further £3,000.
The regional competition brought together students from a wide range of disciplines with science, humanities, arts, languages and social science faculties all well represented. Many of the team members had little or no business experience and some were meeting their new business colleagues for the first time.
Vice-Chancellor Steve West said, “This is an excellent result and is testimony to the creative and enterprising spirit of the University and in particular of these students. I hope they are going on to greater things and wish them luck.”
Each team was given a business brief based on a real case study and had to develop a detailed strategic business plan for the company. A range of business experts were on hand to provide guidance and support covering topics such as finance and marketing to help simulate a real commercial operation. The day culminated with each team presenting their plan to a panel of judges, who take into account teamwork, listening and learning skills and how well they present themselves under intense pressure.
David Hayhurst from the winning team said: “This has been a fantastic day – and not just because we won! We’ve learnt so much about business, about our own set of commercial skills and about working together as a team – all of which I’m sure will stand us in good stead when we graduate. Now, we are just completely determined to go on and win the final!”
The winning team now progress to the Grand Final at Plymouth University where they will compete with the nine other regional winners for a cash prize of £3,000 and the prestigious 2008 National FLUX title.
FLUX 2008 kicked off in Wales at the University of Aberystwyth. Flux is the UK’s largest inter-university business challenge and offers the unique opportunity for all students to utilise enterprising skills in a competitive environment.
The winning team came from the host university and Julia Heffmann, a second year International Politics and French student, from Aberystwyth said: “This has been a fantastic day, and not just because we won! We’ve learnt so much about business, about what we are good at and about how to work together as a team. All of which I’m sure will stand us in good stead when we graduate. Now, we are just completely determined to go on and win the Final!”
One of the local business experts, Dilwyn Roberts a local architect and developer commented “This event is a great simulation of real business life, working under pressure to tight timelines and in teams often brought together for a specific project. The winning team did a great job with a difficult business brief.”
ENTERPRISING MMU students have won the North West final of Flux 2008.
MMU’s teams finished first and second in the contest between North West universities including Lancaster, Uclan, Salford, Liverpool and MBS.
Just as in TV’s ‘The Apprentice’ the teams are presented with a business idea and must sell it to the maximum before a watching panel of expert judges.
The day-long competition on February 12, saw the MMU students edge ahead in such abilities as business development and planning, financial management, sales and marketing, and communication.
The winning team, who shared a £500 prize, comprised:
Daniya Iqbal (Accounting and Finance), Jonathan Williams (Environmental Science), Jessica Glapa (Masters Marketing Management, Cheshire), Liz Greenfield (English and Creative Writing), Sam Reece (Advertising and Brand Management) and Natalie Sidwell (International Business and German).
They will now go through to the Flux Grand Final at Plymouth University on March 17/18 where they will compete with nine other regional winners for a cash prize of £3,000 and the prestigious 2008, National Flux title.
Sam Reece, from MMU’s winning team said: “This has been a fantastic day – and not just because we won! We’ve learnt so much about business, about our own set of commercial skills and about working together as a team – all of which will stand us in good stead when we graduate.
“Now we are just determined to go on and win the final!”
Jan Moore, head of MMU Careers, who facilitated the event with David Taylor, a senior lecturer in enterprise at MMUBS, said: “We’re very proud of the both MMU teams. They come from a mix of course areas – arts and sciences, as well as business subjects – and I’m convinced that makes them a stronger unit.”
, from Working Knowledge, said: “FLUX has grown over the last three years to be a great competition for students and business experts and this year has been the biggest and best yet. With FLUX, we aim to help bridge the gap between academia and business and to enable students to learn and demonstrate key skills which will help not only improve their employability, but also give them the ability and confidence to embark on a successful business career”.
The University of the West of England’s Flux2008 team has just won the South West regional heat held at Bath University.
, Alan Spence, Mohsin Khan, Nanda Kumar, Julian Henry and David Hayhurst did extremely well to win this stage. They beat off challenges from the region’s other universities to win first prize of £500 and are now through to the national finals at Plymouth on March 17/18 with the chance of winning a further £3,000.
ENTERPRISING MMU students have won the North West final of Flux 2008.
