LMBS and Make Your Mark Challenge link up as partners to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week with support of Lord Bilimoria and the local business community.

LMBS hosted the first UK partnership with Make Your Mark Challenge between a university and schools to celebrate Enterprise Week. 55,000 students from over 1,000 organisations competed in the 2008 Challenge to unlock the UK’s enterprise potential. Make Your Mark is the national campaign inspiring young people to make their ideas happen and has now gone global.

Local Langdon School, East Ham, Newham and Uxbridge College MYM teams arrived at LMBS on Monday 17th November ready to meet with LMBS internal and external facilitators to think through and deliver a mini Dragons Den pitch to the question released by MYM on the Sunday midnight.

The Make Your Mark Challenge for 2008

‘Create an entrepreneurial idea inspired by the Olympic & Paralympic Values’

The challenge was to create an entrepreneurial idea inspired by the seven Olympic & Paralympic Values. The idea could be a product to sell, a service to provide or perhaps a space or a place which makes money. One or more of the values could be integrated into the idea.

All day the school teams toiled at a business concept supported by Lord Bilimoria who shared tips with them over lunch sponsored by Compass Scholarest.

The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, Local business leaders, partners and LMBS Visiting Professors acted as facilitators moving between the teams as sounding blocks for their inventions.These included the Institute of Directors, travel, communications, finance, marketing, human resources, operations. A full list follows this article.

The internal LMBS facilitators of staff and final year students led the school teams through the day to complete 90 second presentations to a group of business judges. The judges were impressed at the originality and professional level of the student input. All the participants were presented with a LMBS Certificate of Achievement.

The winning team from Langdon School won their heat and came second in the London Regional Finals.

And what do the schools and facilitators say?

Schools

‘It was awesome’

‘Thanks for allowing us come to the university’

‘Having the business facilitators with us all the time inspired us’

‘We were so lucky to have this opportunity - thank you London Met Business School‘

‘We really enjoyed the experience’

‘What else can we do together?’

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Facilitators

‘We really enjoyed it’

‘There were some really exciting and professional ideas’

‘London Metropolitan Business School are leaders in taking the initiative for these activities with schools and colleges’

‘Looking forward to next year’s MYM Challenge’

'The MYM Challenge, LMBS, the schools and local business show what can be achieved by working in partnership with the community’

External LMBS facilitators

• Jim Kelly, IoD Director Central Pall Mall, Bus & Science
• Jason Choy, President Young Directors Forum IoD, Business
• Andrew Woods, AW Associates, marketing
• Sue Kavanagh, AK Associates, HR & travel
• Lester Hillman, Consultant,Transport
• Julian Tsui, CE Dragon Gate,Trading /IT
• Richard Vardy, Investec Director Social Responsibility, Banking/finance
• Gwyn Hughes, Chairman Pin Point Communications, Bus &Travel
• Tricia Handley, MD Pin Point Communications, Marketing &Travel
• Richard Gostling, Director, UBS Bank
• Julian Hall, Co-Founder & Director, Pure Online Genius*

Internal LMBS Facilitators

• Linda Johnson, law
• Andrew Halford, law
• Tim Cleary, IT
• Allison Wylde, logistics
• Ronke Shoderu , law
• Janet Geary, quants
• Debbie Holley, purchasing and supply
• Bob Morgan, economics
• Pat Wood, corporate strategy/ tourism
• Colin Bladen-Hovell, finance
• Dave Trodden, finance
• Gareth Thompson, marketing/PR
• Toluwalase Anisulowo, BA Accounting Finance and Final year
• Rodney Martins, BA Accounting and Finance, Final year

Further Information: Pat Wood LMBS p.wood@londonmet.ac.uk

Updated 10 Dec. 2008