Universities Business Challenge 2023
LUBS students, supported by the LUBS Employability and Opportunity Team, have excelled in the annual Universities Business Challenge with two undergraduate teams and two postgraduate teams making it to the national final.
Initially six teams entered the undergraduate competition and four postgraduate teams entered the Global Masters version, completing rounds of virtual trading in competition with teams from across the UK.
Students worked in teams of five to make decisions about how much to spend on the different areas of their business. For the postgraduate teams, this was a company making and using bioplastics and for the undergraduate teams, this was a sustainable energy company.
The teams that made the most profit progressed to a live competition against other universities, taking part in shorter rounds of trading mixed with other activities testing their skills in teamwork, communication and problem solving. During the postgraduate final the teams created posters about their shared strengths based on a Cappfinity assessment, completed an authentic assessment centre exercise based on a logic problem and created and acted out an advert for a new social enterprise. In the undergraduate final, the teams created a poster about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and gave a pitch about repurposing a former pub into a social enterprise to provide those who are homeless a place to both live and work.
The Global Masters finalists were also privileged to hear from Rosie Ginday MBE, the Birmingham-based founder of Miss Macaroon- a social enterprise providing training and employment opportunities to care-experienced young people in the local area. She described the journey of her business from borrowing space in a catering college and completing online orders for corporate clients, to opening their own prosecco and macaroon bar in Birmingham city centre. The teams also got to try out some of her produce and appreciate the culinary skill involved in crafting the perfect macaroon!
Our LUBS teams were very successful with the postgrad teams placing 5th and 6th out of 12 in the final and the undergraduate teams in the final placing 4th and between 6th – 10th place. This is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the hard work that students put in.
(L-R) Affan Khalid, Amber Watkin, Eugenia Ong - congratulations on achieving fourth place!
Joe Sole, team leader of one of the teams that went to the undergraduate final, encourages students interested in taking part in future years to “definitely go for it. It's a brilliant character builder and something to freshen up the week outside of your studies. It also looks great on the CV.”
(L-R) Varosita Anuthasanakul, Chris Panayiotides, Sathvika Ramasamy Palaniswamy, Joe Sole, David Lee
Rasika Chandra Sekaran, who took part in the postgraduate final, agreed saying: “Do not miss the opportunity. The UBC provides a platform for students to showcase their business acumen, strategic thinking, and teamwork skills in a competitive environment. It not only offers a chance to network with other ambitious students but also provides an opportunity to gain valuable feedback from industry experts and develop skills that will be invaluable in their future careers. I highly encourage all LUBS students to consider competing in the UBC and take advantage of this incredible opportunity to hone their business skills.”
Amy Longsden, Careers Consultant for the Business School says, “I’m always impressed by the level of effort and dedication put into the competition by our students, who are already so busy with their studies and other activities. They have to really pull together to make their decisions quickly in the virtual trading rounds, trusting each other's knowledge and expertise, and it shone through in the final when they got stuck into every task with enthusiasm. Although we didn’t bring home the trophy, all our teams should be very proud of what they’ve learned and achieved over the last few months.”
The Universities Business Challenge takes place every year. If you are a student interested in taking part in the future you should apply internally via the LUBS Employability and Opportunity Team in semester 1 next academic year.