Ousedale students win Arts Business Challenge at Cranfield

Five sixth-formers from Ousedale School in Milton Keynes fought off competition from nine other teams to win the grand final of the Arts Business Challenge, hosted by the Centre for Customised Executive Development at Cranfield School of Management. Cranfield has recently been ranked by the Financial Times as the top UK business school for customised executive development and first in the world for international delivery.

The trophy was presented to the winning team by Councillor Alan Richards, the Mayor of Milton Keynes. The winners will be joined by the runners-up, from Denbigh School, in the Inter-County Challenge which takes place in the autumn when they will compete against winners of similar challenges from Bedfordshire schools.

This is the 17th successive year that Cranfield’s Centre for Customised Executive Development has organised the Arts Business Challenge for schools across Milton Keynes. It is designed to bring business and education closer together and provides a rare opportunity for aspiring young business leaders to benefit from the experience of working with a world-class management school. The event ran ‘virtually’ for two weeks, with teams competing in an online business simulation, before the four most profitable teams and a wild card team met face-to-face at Cranfield for the grand final.  

One of the members of the winning team from Ousedale, commented: “The competition helped me to see how a business operates in terms of finance and decision making. I learned how to work in a team effectively and how to communicate with my team and mentor effectively”.

Fran Bottoms, who teaches at Ousedale, said: “It has been a very exciting experience for my students to take part in the Arts Business Challenge again this year. The opportunity to participate in a professional business simulation is unique and they have learned a great deal from it.  They were runners up in the first round but by the final they had really grasped the important essentials and won outright.  As a bonus one of the students won the award for best designed logo. I am extremely proud of the group and the way they have worked together as a team.”

Karen Valverde, Business Simulations Director in the Centre for Customised Executive Development at Cranfield School of Management, said: “We had an excellent response from schools and it was encouraging to see the enthusiasm and competitiveness of the teams. The competition is designed to inspire sixth formers across Milton Keynes and consider business as an option for their career. We are incredibly grateful to the generosity of our sponsors this year, Grant Thornton, John Lewis, Lynx Networks, Marshalls Amplification plc, Wolverton & Stony Stratford Rotary and Woodfines LLP. All sponsors nominated a member of staff to mentor an individual team on the day of the competition. This year’s winning team mentor was Timi Niweigha from Lynx Networks plc.

Bill Shedden, Director of the Centre for Customised Executive Development said: “This is an important and worthwhile event and I am delighted that this year we were able to work closely with a number of corporate partners who sponsored the event with us.”

To find out more about Cranfield’s extensive portfolio of both web-enabled and paper-based simulations, contact Karen Valverde on +44 (0)1234 754427, e: k.l.valverde@cranfield.ac.uk

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Notes to editors

For a photograph of the winning team or to arrange an interview please contact The Media Relations Office, Cranfield School of Management on T: +44 (0) 1234 754425 or E: sommediarelations@cranfield.ac.uk

Photo caption - Councillor Alan Richards presented the trophy to the winning team from Ousedale School (l-r): Timi Niweigha, Councillor Alan Richards, The Mayor, Saranyan Manohar, Jack Leeman, Abbie Benson, Ravi Bhadti, and Muzzammil Umair.

Cranfield School of Management is one of Europe’s leading university management schools renowned for its strong links with industry and business. It is committed to providing practical management solutions through a range of activities including postgraduate degree programmes, management development, research and consultancy. www.som.cranfield.ac.uk

The Centre for Customised Executive Development at Cranfield has a reputation as a world leader in tailored organisational development. In the 2011 Financial Times Ranking of executive education providers, Cranfield has recently been ranked by the Financial Times as the top UK business school for customised executive development and first in the world for international delivery. For over 21 years, the Centre has worked in close partnership with clients on bespoke executive education projects that deliver both individual and organisational change. www.cranfieldCCED.info