A team of students from University College Plymouth St Mark and St John (Marjon) has triumphed over more than 200 other teams from across the UK and won the national final of the Make Your Mark Challenge, the UK's largest simultaneous enterprise competition, held on 11 December in London.
The 2007 challenge, 'Make it pay in a globalocal way', was designed to get the teams thinking about solutions to the world's social and environmental issues.
Designed specifically to foster teamwork, kick-start imaginations and unleash creativity for developing money-making ideas, the Challenge is run by the national Make Your Mark campaign, which also coordinates national Enterprise Week.
Marjon's innovative idea was rooftop farming - using urban rooftops to cultivate exotic fruit and crops, filling gaps in the existing market while cutting down on 'food miles'. Team member Joe Scott is a third year Outdoor Adventure and Management student at Marjon. He says: "We've been asked if we're going to put rooftop farming into practice. It will mean bringing together owners of flat-roofed buildings, market gardeners and customers so it may be a tall order to fit that in with our studies but we'll certainly be considering it. At the moment we're still coming back to earth after the fantastic but gruelling experience of the finals."
This winning idea impressed the panel of judges, which included successful young entrepreneur Seb Bishop, who starred in Channel Four's Millionaire's Mission. The team claimed a prize of £3,000 for Marjon, a trophy and £100 worth of vouchers for each team member.
Business Development Coordinator Mandi Barnett and Lecturer in Management Bob Pilbeam accompanied the six-strong team to London for the two-day final. Bob says: "Obviously every one at Marjon is delighted with the team's success. The team would like to use the prize money to set up an entrepreneur's club on campus, which will certainly encourage our students to develop business skills to stand them in good stead in their future careers."
During the course of the final event the team had to draw on their creative and business skills to develop a financial forecast, mood board, poster display, press release and blog. And they then had to face an audience of over 100 fellow contestants and a judging panel, including celebrities and the director of Make Your Mark, when they delivered a two minute pitch with a three minute question and answer session.
Designed specifically to foster teamwork, kick-start imaginations and unleash creativity for developing money-making ideas, the Challenge is run by the national Make Your Mark campaign, which also coordinates national Enterprise Week.
