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Business victory at Grant Thornton’s Umph event!

Monday, 24 July, 2017

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Business & Management

Students from Greenhead College, Huddersfield, beat stiff competition to defend their title for the second year running at this year’s Umph! Competition that took place at Wakefield College’s new £7m Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre.

Greenhead College students celebrate another business victory at Grant Thornton’s Umph! event

Students from Greenhead College, Huddersfield, beat stiff competition to defend their title for the second year running at this year’s Umph! Competition that took place at Wakefield College’s new £7m Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre. Organised and sponsored by leading business advisory firm, Grant Thornton, the annual Umph! competition sees schools and colleges from across the region go head-to-head in real life business scenarios, designed to test their decision-making and entrepreneurial skills.

Teams battled it out in real life scenarios, liaising with banks, customers and suppliers to manage a business in a fast-paced environment. The winning team (Harry Swift-Baxter, Eve Pennie, Sam Sykes, Joe Brocklehurst) impressed local entrepreneurs, including Boost Drinks founder Simon Gray, Julian Kynaston, of make-up empire Illamasqua and creative agency, Propagada and Tim Moss, owner of adventure website, The Next Challenge.

The runners up came from Silcoates School in Wakefield, with the team made up of James Flanagan, Ben Donson, Isabelle Lawley and Rosie Mason. Chloe Carr, from Parkside College in Leeds, took home the award for most entrepreneurial participant throughout the day. Andy Wood, Managing Partner at Grant Thornton Yorkshire said: “We’d like to thoroughly congratulate Greenhead College on another well-deserved win and we have again been thrilled by the talent, enthusiasm and potential that was demonstrated by all teams.

We recognise that the entrepreneurs of the future are in the schools and colleges of today, and have organised Umph! for the past six years as part of our commitment to nurturing young talent.” Julian Kynaston, founder of Illamasqua and Propaganda added: “It has been a pleasure to be involved in such an enterprising and inspiring event. I see the potential in every student involved to be a great business leader. I fully support Grant Thornton’s aim of building a business culture based on integrity and purpose, and am confident that our future is in good hands with the young people I’ve met here today.”

Wakefield College Principal, Sam Wright also commented: “We are delighted to be hosting the Umph! event in association with Grant Thornton.With our new Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre focussed on enterprise and entrepreneurship, hosting this event made perfect sense. It is great to see so many young people take part in this prestigious competition and get a taste of what enterprise and business is all about.”