CLIENT

The Business School within University College Birmingham (UCB) runs business and marketing courses accredited by The University of Birmingham.

CHALLENGE

The Business School wanted to give its students the opportunity to put what they had been taught into practice so that they developed a deeper, more practical understanding of business and entrepreneurship.

INSIGHT

In the world of startups and technology, hackathons are an effective way to bring disparate groups of people together around a new business idea which they can rapidly prototype, evaluate and pitch.

SOLUTION

We created The Ideas Machine, a two-day hackathon-inspired event where students assembled into teams to create new business ideas. Inserted into the programme were mini masterclasses on the innovation which students could apply there and then to put those skills into practice.

RESULTS

• 93% of students said they had a better understanding of business due to the event

• 96% of students would recommend the event to a friend

• 68% of students felt more positive about starting their own business