NUS OFFERS £100,000 TO STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS

‘DRAGON’S DEN’ STYLE COMPETITION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESSES BY STUDENTS’ UNIONS

The National Union of Students (NUS) has today launched The Enterprise Project to provide member students’ unions with a portion of a £100,000 pot of seed funding for social enterprise projects, and training and mentorship to support in their development and delivery.

The project was developed from the NUS’ Innovation and Social Enterprise Academy which has provided funding to students’ unions in further and higher education over the past two years. Previous funded projects have included bicycle recycling schemes, in-house printing, and learner engagement schemes*.

Applicants must present an idea for a social enterprise or sustainable business by Monday 17 December 2012. They will then be invited to attend a training day on Wednesday 16 January 2013.

They will then have the opportunity to refine their ideas and create a more comprehensive business plan before a short list of applicants will be invited to pitch their ideas ‘Dragon’s Den’ style to a panel of business experts in March 2013.

Successful applicants will then receive a portion of the £100,000 fund and ongoing mentoring as they establish their business.

Raechel Mattey, Chair of NUS Services, said:

“Students’ unions are full of exciting ideas that with the right support could become vibrant, socially responsible businesses that create employment opportunities in their local area.

“The project has been so successful in the last few years that we have expanded and redeveloped it to try and reach even more student entrepreneurs.

“We welcome all kinds of ideas from eco-projects, to lettings agencies, to retail ventures and any other imaginative proposals that students can think of.

“Anyone who has an idea but isn’t already a part of their students’ union should take it to their union and encourage them to apply.”

*Case Studies:

iCYCLE Manchester

Matt Robinson, chief executive, Manchester Metropolitan Union

With support from last year’s funding, Manchester Metropolitan Union (MMU) partnered with Cycles Recycled, which specialises in recycling bicycles, to provide an improved cycling experience to students and staff at the university.

Through the scheme, MMU provides affordable cycle hire, access to cycle maintenance programmes, and information for staff and students to become better informed about reusing bike parts and other sustainable transport options.

Since its soft launch in June 2011, the project has built a fleet of over 50 new and refurbished bicycles. The response has been positive, and a bike rental scheme for local businesses has been put in place to account for potential loss of revenue over the summer.

The combination of income from bike hire, auction and repair services will enable the project to remain sustainable as the fleet increases.

The project has been successful, and revenue is growing. As well as meeting its objective of providing improved cycling facilities, the project attracts volunteers (staff and students) to refurbish bikes and to learn about bike maintenance. Initial sales of bikes, rental and servicing revenue indicate that the project is on track to be a sustainable investment.

In-house printing

Amanda Ledwards, retail manager, Staffordshire University Students’ Union

For some time we had been discussing ways that we could support students who wanted to develop their business skills and knowledge.

We had considered the possibility of purchasing specialised vinyl printing equipment, but with a modest budget, this was out of our reach. When we heard that another round of funding from the project was open, we were quick to get involved.

In preparing to present our bid, Emma Harris, our commercial services officer (2011/12), attended the one-day NUS Services event, where there were entrepreneurs, business owners and finance managers delivering advice on how to deliver a successful pitch.

The funding we secured has allowed us to purchase the high-quality printing equipment we had hoped for, as well as ‘start up’ stock. And during this term, we will be offering opportunities for students to print their own designs and artwork, and create their own T-shirt and clothing designs.

There are many more opportunities now open to us. We are hoping to print our own staff uniforms in-house, and our university is interested in purchasing staff uniform printing from us too.

We have the opportunity to print clubs’ and societies’ kits and social wear, and can easily run bespoke prints for students who want to personalise their kit. We can offer this to students at a much reduced price than they are currently paying.

We have high hopes for this being a successful student-led venture, and are grateful to NUS Services for helping us to get it off the ground.

Learner engagement

Sammy Engele, learner voice co-ordinator, Worcester College of Technology Students’ Union

We applied to the project back in 2010. Before then, we had a fairly decent union with nine part-time officer positions. But in the union’s four-year history, all nine positions had never been filled simultaneously.

We have had some very good officers who worked tirelessly to represent our student body, but their efforts were often stifled by some obvious shortcomings.

Firstly, the union didn’t have an office to work from. Secondly, because they were part-time officers and were also studying full-time, quite often they couldn’t get involved with certain campaigns and events.

With all this in mind, we saw the project as a fantastic opportunity to solve a number of these issues. We decided to concentrate our bid on two main areas: a full-time officer and the Students' Union Bureau (SUB).

In most parts, we have been able to make this plan a reality. The SUB, a one-stop students' union hub, has been open for almost a year, and has proved to be immensely popular – so much so that the college has commissioned a second SUB to be built in another building.

We also elected a second full-time officer in March this year, in what were our most successful elections ever. For the first time, we filled all nine positions. Overall, the whole project has been a success. The look, structure and purpose of the students’ union has improved dramatically, and we get involved with so much more. But most importantly, our engagement with students is much better.