POSTED: 7.7.2006

STudents AWARDED FOR ENTERPRISE

ENTERPRISING STUDENTS IN DUMFRIES

Three Dumfries students have been rewarded for their business skills at the University of Paisley’s annual Entrepreneurial Awards 2006.

The Awards have been running for 10 years and were held recently at the University’s Paisley Campus.

The three business students, Fiona Campbell, Elkie Astley and Wendy Hunter, who are studying at Crichton University Campus, Dumfries, saw their business idea, New Generation Fuel Ltd (NGF), win the Paisley Hammerman Society Award. As winners of this prize the students were awarded £1000 to advance the development of their business idea, which aims to manufacture, distribute and sell fuel bricketts made from recycled waste paper.

Carole Naylor of the University of Paisley Business School, based at Crichton University Campus, Dumfries, said: “The group worked tremendously hard and produced an extremely comprehensive and well thought out business plan. This is an entrepreneurial idea that could go far, both in realising the groups business ambitions and in building a sustainable business providing local employment. The Paisley Hammerman Society Award will go a long way to making this goal a reality.”

Judging at the awards was carried out by an independent panel of experienced and prominent Scottish business leaders and entrepreneurs, including Dr Tom Clark, entrepreneur and business consultant; Sheila Hamilton of TEKNEK, a local technology-based manufacturer; Gary McEwan, founder of Equity Gap; and local business adviser, Bill Miller.

Entry to the competition is through the University’s Business Venturing course, which is open to students across the University’s Schools and has proved a valuable arena where students with different skills can come together to create a plan for a viable business. Entry to the competition is a valuable experience for potential student entrepreneurs, since they receive important feedback on their business idea from the Entrepreneurial Awards’ Advisory Panel.

Professor David Deakins, Director of Paisley Enterprise & Research Centre (PERC) which organises the Awards, said: “The standard of entries this year was excellent and the panel had a difficult decision in deciding the winning business plans.

“All of our winning students worked extremely hard and presented highly original ideas. Their business ideas were are well researched and have great potential if they decide to take them to the marketplace.”

The University of Paisley is widely-regarded as a leading centre of entrepreneurship throughout the United Kingdom. It provides undergraduate and postgraduate options that develop and teach important business skills.

PERC provides a focus for research and teaching in entrepreneurship and enterprise. Its central activity lies with the development of applied research with small firms and entrepreneurs, for dissemination of research findings and for developing links with the enterprise community. The main areas of research that PERC is involved in include ethnic minority enterprise development; women’s enterprise research; evaluation of start-up support; high technology small firms; case study research; and the role of non-executive directors in small companies.