STUDENTS WIN FUNDING FOR THEIR BUSINESS IDEAS FROM THE ARORA

ENTERPRISE AWARDS

As part of their mission to support enterprise and innovation amongst students, Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs (RHE) has joined forces with their leading sponsor Surinder Arora to host the annual Arora Awards for Enterprise. Aspiring student entrepreneurs entered a tightly-fought competition to win up to £3350 in prizewinning to take their winning ideas and concepts to the next stage as part of the Arora sponsorship scheme to RHE which funds both Arora’s Den and these annual awards.

Funded by Surinder Arora of Arora Hotels, the awards are designed to both reward students for exciting new business ideas that have real potential to succeed, and test the student driving the idea forward. Luka Blackman-Gibbs, President of RHE said “Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs work with countless students all year round to develop their ideas and this is a fantastic way of both rewarding those ambitious students, and motivating other students to get involved with the organisation. We are extremely grateful to Surinder for supporting us financially as ultimately this is one key building block for business that RHE can’t offer their membership but is usually vital to its acceleration. Surinder is helping us to transform lives.”

Students were asked to apply to the awards via an online basic business plan form. Applicants were then interviewed by Surinder Arora, Founder & Chief Executive of Arora Hotels, John Donaldson, Executive Director of Arora Hotels, Luka Blackman-Gibbs, President of Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs and Elizabeth Wilkinson, Head of Careers.

Surinder Arora commented: ‘These awards provide an excellent opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to develop and test their ideas whilst in a study environment. The quality and range of applications was most impressive with some having definite commercial potential.

My association with Royal Holloway College goes back many years and I am delighted to support this initiative to promote entrepreneurship which is the lifeblood of the UK economy’.

The winners were announced at an Awards Ceremony held at Royal Holloway on 21st March. They included: Henry James, Founder of Gold Leaf Fashion Label which is a luxury, British manufactured brand. They already have retailers such as ASOS.com and Harvey Nichols interested in stocking their lines. Henry was awarded £700.00.

Elena Bella, Founder of Froop Jewellery line which sells low budget gifts that ‘have a touch of luxury’ and already has a good sales record. Elena was awarded £700.00. Marianne Hughes, Founder of Exposure which seeks to become a recognised platform for student photographers to have their work showcased and sold. Marianne was awarded £700.00. Joe Shellard, Founder of Adelphi, the world’s first online system which lets students order play tickets without a credit card- a secure system that empowers parents, students and members of the community to book tickets online. Joe was awarded £200.00.

Elena Bella said ‘It was a nerve-wracking but incredibly exhilarating experience from start to finish. I still can't quite believe it.’

Arora Group

The Arora Group is a successful UK-focused private group of companies, which leverages synergies across its specialist property, construction and hotel divisions to its strategic advantage. Since 1999, the Group has built its standing through meticulously managing projects from inception to delivery and beyond. Today, it owns and manages a diverse portfolio of flagship assets across the nation’s key business locations, partnering with some of the world’s most recognised brands to deliver consistently high service levels and sustainable growth.

For more information please visit www.thearoragroup.com

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