Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Students rise to the challenge
In the first of eight live semi-finals last week, the team of students fought off tough competition from students all across the UK, including University of Leeds, Dundee University and Newcastle University, to earn their place in the grand final of the prestigious national competition.
The students who are Robert Scott (BA Accounting & Finance), David Woodward (BA Business & Management), Heidi Bohren (BA International Business), Kris Payne (BA Business & Management) and Will Hesketh (BA Business Studies) have been acting as a board of directors in a series of realistic, simulated companies, making all the critical business decisions that affect the company's performance.
Will commented: "The semi-finals were extremely nerve racking but also fun and packed with useful employability building exercises. To win all five trading periods and generate a total profit of £226,972 was amazing and helped us recognize the new skills we all had to offer. The finals will test our true capabilities and should prove to be a memorable and worthwhile experience."
The competition began with 351 teams and there are eight semi-finals with ten teams in each.
A second team from Leeds Met also made it to the live semi-finals but were beaten in the last round by University of Liverpool. However, they still have a chance in the competition should they be picked as one of the two best runner up teams that are placed in the final.
Six more semi-finals will take place before the full list of finalists is announced.
Winners will receive £1000 cash prize at this year's one-day live grand final later this month which is sponsored and hosted by IBM UK.