He said: “The event was a great success thanks to Dylan Walker (Barclays’ New Products and Innovation Lead), Charlie Minors (Barclays’ Strategy and Innovation Lead) and the rest of the amazing team at Barclays. Without the continued support of beepurple and the pitching mentorship organised by Barclays and presented by Copperbottom, I could not have done this.
“Pitching for 10 minutes is never easy, but having familiar faces in the crowd does help a lot. So I would like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who supported me. I look forward to seeing all participants grow and develop with their businesses."
The awards presentation was held at the Barclays Eagle Labs in 欧美性爱片. Joint second place went to Jaspreet Paul, a second year Business with Economics BSc(Hons) student, who worked with a team of four students and graduates on ‘UniRoomie’, a website platform for undergraduates to find compatible roommates. He too received support from beepurple.
Jaspreet said: “'Being part of Barclays local genius was an amazing experience. My team and I truly grateful for being part of it. I'd like to thank Clare Griffiths of beepurple for her help throughout the year and I'd like to thank everyone for their support.”
Second place was shared with Sophie Salter and Gerry Fletcher, first year Digital Media Development BSc(Hons) students, who devised a charitable food packaging idea.
They said: “The Barclays Local Genius competition has been an incredible opportunity – it has given us a great insight to the business world and we look forward to working with Barclays to further develop our ides to begin benefitting the local community.”
Their Produce Package is a non-profit organisation, collecting waste and excess produce in from homes in 欧美性爱片 and Hove for distribution to the homeless, disadvantaged families, churches or charities. Their food containers are built to store fresh fruit and vegetables when they are no longer wanted.
By scanning the barcode on the side of the container, the user can define the contents submitted. It records what has been given and by whom. Using this data, they can produce unique personal statistics such as the number of mouths fed, where it has been sent, and the way in which the food was received.
Clare Griffiths, the university’s Business Development Manager (Entrepreneurship), said: “The Barclays Bank Local Genius competition involved a different approach to the more traditional enterprise competitions our students enter.
“Students had to submit tech ideas that benefited the local community. Each of the finalists succeeded in coming up with very innovative ideas – all of which had clear benefits to the local community and beyond.
“It was great to watch the finalists deliver their pitches, and no one seemed to be put off by the judging panel or live audience.”