The event involved nine groups of Level 5 students, currently studying on the Graduate Enterprise module, pitching their businesses to trade fair guests at their stands. Businesses represented at the fair were:
• Scrumptious Students - a mobile device app which provides a variety of recipes directed at students who are on a budget
• Scouse Cosmetics - specialise in beauty products for achieving the ‘classic Scouse aesthetic’
• The Teabox Company - a specialist tea distributor offering a variety of premium leaf teas
• Brolly Dollies - a company that caters for the needs of commuters and tourists arriving at travel hotspots during rainy weather
• When in Rome Clothing Company - a company which produces quality T-Shirts with unique designs from around the globe
• City Style - a company which designs umbrellas, unique to Liverpool, offering a stylish compliment to the city
• Phenomenal Hoodies - a company which produces customizable hoodies for the student population
• On the Box - an independent film screening company based in Liverpool
• Hammer Down – a company which organises art auctions with work by emerging young artists
Over 60 guests attended the fair - both from within the university and externally.
The Graduate Enterprise module, delivered by Janet Farrow and Chris Taylor in the Liverpool Business School in conjunction with Young Enterprise and the LJMU Centre for Entrepreneurship, gives students a real-life experience of turning a business idea into a reality . The use of volunteer business mentors provides students with the opportunity to network with the Liverpool business community and develop valuable employability skills.
Andy Firr from Young Enterprise commented:
''This was a fantastic event, and all students were a credit to themselves and the University. The professionalism and enthusiasm that students shown whilst talking with guests and members of the public demonstrated just how far they have all come in just over six months. ‘The Teabox Company’ will now go onto represent LJMU at the National Young Enterprise Start Up Final. There is the possibility of them going all the way to a European Final to be held this Summer in Belgium, competing against the best of Europe's young entrepreneurs!''
Any LJMU students interested in starting a business can receive free support and advice from LJMU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship (see www.ljmu.ac..uk/startup for further details and contact information).
