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Successful Blueprint for Sunderland students

Enterprising students from the University of Sunderland rubbed shoulders with civic and business leaders at the University’s Blueprint Awards ceremony held at the Stadium of Light last week. The University of Sunderland’s round of the Blueprint business planning competition is the first step on the road to success for the winners, who will be featured at the competition’s final in October.

The University intends that its participation will help promote the enterprise initiatives it runs to stimulate business start-up rates in the North East.

Karen Wight of Galaxy FM hosted the evening and the category finalists and winners were presented with their Awards from Paul Callaghan, Chairman of Leighton Group; Mark Pearce of Dickinson Dees; Patricia Stead of the Arts Council; Stuart Birkett, MD of Sunderland Echo and Ged Fitzgerald of Sunderland City Council, along with senior University staff.

The overall winners of the competition were Frankie Cavanagh and Andy Watts of Standby…Art, and the runner-up was Graeme Patrick of Ego Studios. They will receive £3,000 and £2,000 prize money respectively to help get their businesses started. The Award is in memory of Sunderland-born entrepreneur David Goldman – one of the founding partners of software company Sage plc and has been funded through a generous endowment from his family.

Graeme Patrick, Andy Watts and Frankie Cavanagh will now go on to the Blueprint Regional Grand Final, on 17 October. At the Regional Grand Final, they will compete against their peers from the other four regional universities to win a share of prize money and business support to the value of £100,000.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .