A life for design - Sheffield Hallam University

18
Review
People
Visiting speakers
bring insight
and interest
We hosted several celebrity speakers as part of ‘Off the
Shelf’festival of reading and writing, plus we welcomed
a pioneering TV chef who passed on some valuable
advice to students.
Literary festival
brings wide range of
talent to University
The University has hosted a series of
events as part of this year’s Off the
Shelf festival of reading and writing.
Off the Shelf saw around 200 events
taking place across the city in a
variety of venues, and included
readings, debates, workshops, poetry,
storytelling, and much more.
The 2011 festival had a great line
up and at the University we played
host to talks with journalist Polly
Toynbee, marketing guru Sir John
Hegarty, and writer and broadcaster
Will Self.
Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
columnist and influential political
commentator gave a talk and took
questions from a sell-out crowd at the
University’s Pennine Theatre.
She said that despite revelations of
phone hacking, journalism was still a
distinguished profession.
She launched an attack on bankers
and described the Government’s
spending cuts as a “tombstone” for
the public sector.
Polly has won numerous awards for
journalism, scooping the coveted
columnist of the year award at the
British Press Awards in 2007.
Sir John Hegarty, the advertising
guru behind major campaigns for
Levi’s, Volkswagen and British
Airways was another of our guests
during the Off the Shelf festival. In
a talk about his career he said that
Universities should put their students
and digital media at the forefront of
their marketing plans.
He said: “It’s the people you produce
that act as a draw for future students.
What you can do with digital media
and do it very cost-effectively means
that it is a brilliant time in the world
to be in advertising.
“There are a number of media at
your disposal that can be used for
very little money to reach out to
potential students across the world in
a cost-effective way. What it needs of
course is imagination.”
Will Self, the acerbic writer and
former star of BBC TV’s Shooting
Stars was another of our guests
during the festival. He wowed the
audience with tales from his long
career as an award-winning writer,
author and broadcaster.
He also unveiled his latest book,
Walking to Hollywood, a collection of
non-fiction travel stories, written in
his trademark extravagant style. The
book was recently named as one The
Independent newspaper’s paperbacks
of the year.
TV chef serves up
advice
Top TV chef Brian Turner visited
the University for an ‘in conversation’
event and took time to meet
hospitality students and answer their
questions.
And he said chefs of the future should
be wary of their own ambition and
not over look basic cooking skills.
He said: “I wouldn’t want anyone to
be looking to earn a Michelin star by
the time they’re 20. It’s really about
understanding that now’s the time to
build really solid foundations.
“They may have to build on them
quicker than when we were young,
because the world has changed, but
don’t go too fast. You really have
to understand the fundamentals,
understand the business, know you
can cope with it all and then polish it,
rather than go straight to the top.”
At the ‘in conversation’ event Brian
talked about his long career, which
has spanned more than 50 years,
from his childhood spent helping in
his father’s transport café to opening
his own restaurant in Knightsbridge,
London.
He also talked about the television
career that has made him famous
nation-wide. He was awarded a
CBE for his services to catering in
2001 and was awarded an honorary
doctorate from the University
in 2008.
Clockwise from top left: Polly Toynbee,
Sir John Hegarty, Will Self, Brian Turner
Inspirational speakers
19
Review
As a business enterprise
management graduate, you’d
be forgiven for thinking
that Christopher Gowans had a
better chance than most in the 2011
Enterprise Challenge.
The competition, which rewards
graduates’ entrepreneurial skills
and business sense, has recently
got underway for the 12th year, and
previous winners have gone onto real
business success.
Christopher was presented with a
£5,000 prize at the Enterprise awards
dinner, which he will use to develop
his Let’s Go Mexicana food trailer
business, meaning he can introduce
more festival crowds to his spicy
salsas and tasty tortillas.
Christopher, originally from Stokeon-Trent,
said judges were impressed
with his business plan after he
identified a gap in the market for a
trailer selling Mexican food.
And he joked: “I haven’t been to
Mexico as yet but it’s definitely on my
to-do list!”
Previous winners of the Enterprise
Challenge include Nathan Bestwick,
who is on the verge of releasing his
salt and pepper shakers on to the
open market. A runner up in the 2010
competition, Lucy Nuttall, is also
using the University’s partnership
with Gripple to develop her Frontline
Forensics business.
Christopher’s Let’s Go Mexicana is
a towed Mexican food trailer, which
trades predominantly at music
festivals and other outdoor events.
It fuses the vast growth of Mexican
food and outdoor events to create an
exciting market opportunity.
Feature Enterprise Challenge
Enterprising entrepreneurs
with a bright future
Many businesses benefit from start-up support at our
Enterprise Centre, and as the 2012 Enterprise Challenge
competition gets underway, we look at the winners
from 2011.
By Laurie Harvey
He has created a vibrant working
environment in tune with the festival
atmosphere as part of its culture, but
also prides himself on a reputation
for high quality and a strong brand
image.
Organisers of this year’s Enterprise
Challenge say the competition
is more important than ever in
promoting students’ entrepreneurial
skills so they can succeed in a
competitive business environment.
Last year’s finalists all used the
University’s Enterprise Centre to
guide them through the process of
setting up in business.
Sheila Quairney, business and
enterprise manager, said: “Our annual
Enterprise Challenge competition
is a great way of stimulating and
supporting potential student and
graduate businesses and has been
the catalyst for many successful
business start-ups.”
The other finalists of the 2011
competition were
Belmont Baby – Jocelyn Hunter
A husband and wife partnership
have developed a range of innovative
products that make life easier for
parents and babies. The first two
products are a fruit holder for babyled
weaning and an easy-to-use pram
suit.
HB Dynamics – Helen Palfreyman
and Bernadette McAndrew
HB Dynamics is developing an
innovative software solution,
Skelebob, that will enable
businesses to manage effectively
work days lost to problems associated
with computer use, such as back,
neck and wrist pain, whilst also
improving their overall productivity.
Playfonics Recording Booth –
Ian McGinty
Playfonics is a software development
company that provides intuitive
and professional musical products.
Their first product is Recording
Booth, an internet cloud-based music
production service that enables
people without a musical or technical
background to make professionalstandard
music ready for publishing
online.
Rapid Sports – Andrew Thomas
and Scott Bradley
The company will primarily
manufacture and market high
quality sporting products for
canoeing such as kayaks, canoes and
paddles.
“Enterprise
Challenge is a great
way of stimulating
and supporting
potential student
and graduate
businesses and has
been the catalyst
for many successful
business start ups.”
Sheila Quairney
Idea 57