The Henley College students Pitch to Professionals

Our Business students participated in an enterprise event this week, pitching business ideas to a panel of professionals including a partner in a HR Consulting firm, a management consultant and the founder of an energy bar company.

As part of their unit, ‘Starting a small business’, students presented in groups Fresherz, Style Me App, SmootheCo, Unitrition and Confectionz. They all pitched a full business plan which included market research, human resource strategy, financial planning and legal aspects.

Nicky Stapleton, Founding Director of recruitment solutions company, Veritas Partners based in Twyford asked lots of questions about the HR strategy whilst Susie Walker, Founder at The Primal Pantry, an Award-winning real food energy and protein bar company based in Maidenhead asked them questions about how they were going to differentiate between target audiences.

Magdalena Gabriah from the Forte Training Company commented: “As a coach I see potential in people and yesterday the room was full of potential. I loved the presentations and the business plans which were very well researched and presented; considering that these students are 20-30 years younger than us, the dragons, I see a very bright future for them if they persevere at pursuing their goals and ambitions. Well done to the College for so well equipping their students for not only university, but also life.”

Sarah Jones, Former COO Gu Puds, now a management consultant for Blueprint Management consultants, added: “It was great to see the passion and enthusiasm from the students at The Henley College today. I was impressed how well thought out their business plans were, with the level of detail, and with how they all presented themselves. From an industry leader perspective, it was also really insightful to gain an understanding over what interests this younger generation – from sustainability, to healthy eating.”

Business lecturer Sarah Price said: “The student feedback was excellent. Each of them felt that they have benefited and learned from the experience, whilst being significantly challenged by the experience of pitching a business idea to industry experts. I was very proud of the student body as they rose to the challenges that the task provided and have seen yesterday some of the more introverted individuals rise to the challenge of presenting and pitching in a very confident way.  I was extremely proud of the distance they have travelled over the past two academic years.  Their professional yet individual approach left me feeling very lucky to work with such passionate and dedicated young people.”  

Julie Wheals HR generalist and partner at P & W Consulting based in Henley-on-Thames said it was “Great to see so many budding entrepreneurs at Henley College today, they have all learnt a huge amount about business and presented some excellent business plans with great knowledge and enthusiasm.”