Launched in 2016, the Enterprise Challenge equips the next generation of entrepreneurs with the skills and support they need to succeed. The 2017 Enterprise Challenge winner is third year civil engineering student, Kamal Farid, who was awarded the £5,000 first prize for his billion-pound saving road surface idea that could also help save the planet.
The Enterprise Challenge is continuing the work of the Business Planning Competition and Social Enterprise Challenge, which started in 2012. It involves a series of student support workshops run by the Business School at the i3 Centre, along with business mentoring and continuous online support culminating in the submission of a final business plan.
In 2017, the Challenge opened up to international participants for the first time, with participants from Rotterdam, Singapore and Vietnam. Jerry Allen, Deputy Director of Enterprise says: "The strong international enterprise presence clearly shows our direction of travel as a University as we head into our next phase of strategic planning with enterprise as a central tenant."
