Ten of the best student and graduate entrepreneurs have been recognised as part of the Hallam Enterprise Awards

Press contact: Greg Mattocks-Evans | g.mattocks-evans@shu.ac.uk

As part of the awards, the entrepreneurs were tasked with creating a one-minute video pitch for their business with supporters, stakeholders and members of the public invited to vote for their favourite.

The winner, announced at special ceremony at the Hallam i-Lab on Wednesday 24 November, received an additional £500 from the Hallam Enterprise team in addition to a share of £10,000 prize money, kindly donated by Santander Universities.

The winning pitch was created by Ben Illingsworth with his film company Illingsworth Productions.

Ben said: “I am very thankful for all the support the Enterprise team have given me, from helping me form a business plan to helping me build up my contacts.

“I’m delighted to have won the pitching competition. It’s the perfect end to a fantastic evening celebrating the achievements of young entrepreneurs.”

One of the ten finalists was social enterprise Flod who make plant pots with glass and plastic taken from rivers around Sheffield with the help from local charities and members of the community.

Created by product design students Dominic Lewis, Oscar Keenan, Max Sudbury and marketing student Tommy Linnett, the idea came about after much environmental research by the team.

They said: “Having design and some manufacturing experience we knew that we could recycle some waste materials more efficiently. We decided to focus on using waste materials found in and around rivers in Sheffield to convert into a sustainable product.

“After much discussion, we settled on a planter. We felt as these are vessels in which you can grow life, the story is embodied within the product itself”.

Final year business and enterprise management student, Rebecca Malkin, was also shortlisted for her business Inshore Designs which produces luxury sustainable swimwear made from ECONYL® regenerated nylon, formed from recycled plastics and fishing nets that have been discarded in the ocean.

Caroline Nouvellon, student and graduate enterprise manager at Sheffield Hallam University said: “I am personally delighted to see so many of our finalists representing our Work for Yourself sandwich year placement programme and the Class of 2020 and 2021 graduate programme.

“I am incredibly proud of just how socially and environmentally aware many of these businesses are and how all the finalists have handled the extraordinary challenges they have faced over the last couple of years.”

Damien Mullany, deputy relationship manager at Santander Universities UK said: “Santander Universities UK is delighted to support student and graduate start-ups working in The Hallam i-Lab at Sheffield Hallam. This support through the sandwich year and graduate start-up support offer, which includes the HEA, is vital so we encourage them to make their business dreams a reality.”

Find out more about the finalists at the Hallam Enterprise Awards