Santander Universities Enterprise Scholarships Awarded To Bangor University Students

Budding entrepreneurs at Bangor University received Santander Universities Excellence in Enterprise Scholarships at a recent employability celebration event organised by the Employability Development team at the University. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Four winning entries were awarded £500 by Santander Universities for showing exceptional commitment to developing their enterprise skills. All of these students have been receiving support to develop their business through B-Enterprising at Bangor University and have taken an active part in a range of the enterprise opportunities on offer. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Two of the Santander Universities Excellence in Enterprise Scholarship winners participated in this year’s Enterprise by Design challenge to design an app that would encourage an increase in footfall and rekindle the customer experience of Bangor’s High Street. The winning HisTOURY team, comprising Andy Leavers (Computer Science), Guidan Ke (Business), Paula Noon (Product Design) and Kat Atkinson (Psychology) and runners-up team ‘MyStryd’ – Leon Garland (Creative Studies & Media), Jack Morris (Electronic Engineering), Nikita Savy (Psychology), Sabria Behilil (Business) and Aleksandra Kozlowska (Creative Studies & Media) are now collaborating with Arloesi Pontio Innovation and Bangor City Council to further develop their apps. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Another scholarship winner, Business postgraduate Suita Diaz, has made consistent use of the one-to-one mentoring provision available through B-Enterprising to develop her Honduran coffee social enterprise. She is passionate about her idea of trading quality organic Honduran coffee directly to the British market whilst benefiting the Honduran growers and farmers. She test traded the coffee at the Student Christmas Market last December and then went on to win in the Santander Universities competition in the day-to-day products and services ideas category. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Elen Hughes, an undergraduate from the School of Welsh who also received a scholarship enjoyed great success by winning the best stall holder at the Student Christmas Market with her Welsh themed artefacts and cards business – ‘Ffranc’. Subsequently, she excelled at the Santander Universities competition, winning in the ‘start up’ category. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Aron Owen, Bangor University Relationship Branch Manager for Santander Universities, said: “It’s great to see so much enterprising behaviour amongst the student population of Bangor and we’re proud to be able to offer our support”. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Employability Celebration Event where the scholarships were presented was held to showcase Bangor University students who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to developing their employability through extra – and co-curricular activities during their studies. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

B-Enterprising activities are part funded by the Welsh Government to support the delivery of the Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) for Wales. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​