Mon, 8 Dec 2008
Scholars recognised for business skills and social impact.
A pair of business students at the University of Nottingham have been recognised with Real World Awards for developing successful enterprises while still working on their academic qualifications.
Chris Skilton and Jonathan Francis were named Socially Responsible Student of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year respectively after impressing the judges with their business skills.
Mr Skilton, who is set to begin Masters in Entrepreneurship later this month, won for his community outreach work, which includes the Beevelop project in Ghana. The scheme sets up local beehive cooperatives to generate sustainable income.
By linking these cooperatives, Mr Skilton helped beekeeping communities to triple the price of their honey and develop new business lines.
Mr Francis claimed the entrepreneur's award for developing a number of projects as part of a local business development network. They include a software developer the Student2Business troubleshooting service and e-commerce venture Dinkysite.com, which allows users to trade collectible toys.
Commenting on the winners, Darius Novel of awards organiser Real World magazine said: "While making the most of their time at university they have developed new skills that can only benefit them in the future."
Real World magazine provides advice to graduate jobseekers. It is distributed to 130 universities across the country.
>> Read more on how you can release the hidden skills of your staff, to help support your business growth
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