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Award-winning students help local organizations solve their business challenges

A project to support a Portsmouth-based company providing social welfare training and assistance across the UK won top prize at the University of Portsmouth’s Business Consultancy Project (BCP) Awards.

The team of four students (Kevin Ranasinghe, Omar Maqtoush, Kai Yiu Chow and Jamie Robertson) won the award and £ 500 for working with Hudson Blake to improve their sales and marketing. The company provides advice and training for nurses to help people with learning difficulties and first aid.

The judges were impressed with the depth and quality of the work of the students. The team interviewed key stakeholders and tested their theories with advertising. They redesigned the company’s website and social media to ensure a more consistent and impactful image. They helped the company acquire Trust Pilot, which now has 19 5-star reviews with 167 views per month, which significantly raised Hudson Blake’s profile.

Jennifer Hudson, Hudson Blake’s General Manager and Lead Trainer, said, “The team not only explored the routes to market, but also taught me what and why they had done. This means that I can continue to use your work beyond the management consulting project. “

The team was one of 41 teams in this year’s BCP (Business Consultancy Project) module that worked with clients from all types of organizations in the region. The teams had the added challenge of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, which helped them develop their virtual teamwork skills with four China-based teams.

One of these teams worked with Whiteley-based recruitment company Sert to help them develop their markets in the Middle East. Another team had staff in different time zones from Mexico to Romania helping Hampshire-based Planet Aware market their services to help festival goers and promoters reduce waste once lockdown restrictions are lifted later in the year.

Clair Martin, who runs the community-focused company Seekers Create, commended the students for incorporating their company into the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, as this is an area of ​​growing concern to the company.

Peter Wainwright, BCP Module Coordinator and Senior Teaching Fellow, said: “We have approached the challenging COVID-19 situation with a positive attitude. Despite the many difficulties, student learning was improved in many ways by more effective ways of exchanging information and making it easier for students to connect with customers. “

The BCP module includes small teams of students from the university’s Faculty of Business and Law who work with local organizations to solve their business challenges and develop sustainable solutions.

The BCP module has been running for many years and more than 200 local organizations have benefited from the students’ creativity and new perspectives.

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