Business students shine at Dragon’s Apprentice

A group of Business students picked up two awards at the recent Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge competition.

Students Lois Parker, Oliver Savrimoothoo, Danny Nasr, Micaela du Plessis, Omar Gazi, Shinali Patel, Sabiha Uddinn and Connie Bennett, who made up Team Chic, took on the challenge to raise £1,000 for a chosen charity, in this case St Albans and District Talking Newspapers.

They were advised along the way by their Dragon, Gary Wong from accountancy firm Grant Thornton.

Despite missing out on the top spot at the awards ceremony, Team, Chic picked up two out of the seven possible awards, including Best presentation and Most innovative team.

The students raised the money for their charity through a range of activities, including a quiz night at The Stables restaurant and providing a car wash service to staff and students.

Team Chic faced many obstacles along the way, in the breakdown of the original team due to conflicting college timetables, which left the newly formed team less than two months to raise the money. But despite the challenges, the students felt the experience helped them gain new skills and realise the importance of teamwork.

Oliver said: We had lost a lot of time so we had to really spring into action. Over the last two months we completed a range of activities in order to raise sufficient funds for the charity. We learnt to use the resources that we had at college and also focus on ideas that gave the best return in the shortest time.”

Danny said: “We learnt valuable lessons in working in a team, one of them being that cohesion is vital for a successful team. We learnt that meeting deadlines and being flexible for others was key for our team to be efficient. We managed to overcome any differences between us and work cohesively to raise the sufficient funds for our given charity.”

Head of A Levels Tony O’Neill said: “This challenge was tough, but after a difficult start, the team pulled together to make over a £1000 in less than six weeks. This was down to their positive, resilient and good-natured approach and they certainly delivered the goods. I am proud to have worked with them on this worthy and highly enjoyable competition.”