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Grand Final - 17th & 18th March 2008

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University of Plymouth Crowned FLUX Champions!

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. Find out more about the Press Conference here next week!

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!

Monday Evening Networking Event

The networking event at Plymouth Gin (Click for map) was a chance for students to meet the experts and regional business community. It was a chance for competitors to get some additional advice and to impress the experts before the judging starts.

Date and Time:

Thank you to our Evening Event Partners:

Monday 17th March 2008, 7pm – 11pm

Teams that competed:

University	Region	Challenge
University of Huddersfield	Yorkshire	Leap Media
University of Sheffield	Wildcard Winners	Clear Water Revival
University of Sunderland	North East	Green Shoes
Kingston University	London	The Real Olive Company
University of the West of England	South West	The Better Food Company
University of Plymouth	Grand Final Hosts	Frank Water
University of Sussex	South East & South Central	Ethical Junction
University of Oxford	Wildcard Winners	Finisterre UK
Manchester Metropolitan University	North West & Midlands	Diving Diseases Research Centre
Aberystwyth University	Wales	Neal's Yard Remedies

Thank you to the Experts who gave up their time to be there on the day.

Vicki Sewell	Senior Manager	KPMG
Richard Dennys	Founder and MD	Brilliant Weekends
Sam Lacey	Creative Director	Gravity Creative Ltd
Andy Martin	Media Consultant	Trimedia UK
Roger Proctor	Managing Director	Proctor and Stevenson Ltd
Jane Middleton	Managing Director	Brokers 2 Brokers plc
Jenny Brady	Chair	CIPD Devon and Cornwall and SME Owner
Stephen Thomson	Vice-Chair	CIPD Devon and Cornwall and SME Owner
David Northey	Senior Manager Finance & Administration	Toshiba
Daryyl Thomas	Manager	KPMG
John Kirwan	Partner	Strategic Planning Solutions
Mark Poles	Senior Manager	KPMG

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