September 2015
Lord Sherbet hunts for the UCB Apprentice
Read time: approx 1 mins
BA Business Enterprise and Digital Marketing students have been listening for the magic words “You’re hired!” from the mouth of billionaire business tycoon Sir Alan Sherbet.
As part of an enrichment day, the third year students got their business heads on by participating in an enrichment day inspired by the well-known television show The Apprentice.
Split into several teams, the budding entrepreneurs came up with company names and brands. They were then set a series of fast-paced business tasks to prove to Lord Sherbet and his team that they had what it takes to be hired as his apprentice.
The challenges included designing, producing and marketing a new product, creating a memorable advert for it and going out into the streets of Birmingham to barter for a list of random items with a budget of £20 (with the hope of returning with change). They presented their results to the other teams and put themselves at the mercy of Lord Sherbet’s sharp eye and even sharper tongue.
These challenges were designed to get the students in the mind-set for the following academic year. It encouraged them to think on their feet and consider the challenges and demands that companies face on a daily basis to remain competitive.
At the end of the day, the team that Lord Sherbet welcomed into his workplace was Impact. He was impressed with their logo and their innovative product as well as their ability to use humour as a way of making their advertisement memorable.
"This event is a fantastic way of bringing the students together, to get to know one another and work on an exciting project. Many of the students are new to the UK and the business school and the challenges made sure that everyone got involved right from the start. Creativity, innovation and teamwork form a major part of the final year programme, so it’s a great way for students to generate new ideas and experiment in a fun environment. It was particularly useful for the Digital Marketing group as this is a completely new programme with new students and it enabled them to break the ice and bond quickly as a team."
"I had a fantastic day. Not for one minute were we made to sit and watch a presentation and all of the challenges were interactive and got you up out of your seat. I am a final year student and I had only said hello to some of the people in my team before, but now I can see new friendships developing between us. This day was perfect for getting students on the same course communicating with one another."