Launched before Christmas, the competition challenged teams of university students across the UK to launch social enterprises which were not only financially sustainable but could make an impact on the growing problem of waste, whether that was recycling single-use plastics, eliminating food waste, or reusing second-hand clothes.
The teams of students were also challenged by Dominus Real Estate to demonstrate how their businesses could play a powerful role in educating the next generation of young people about the importance of waste reduction, sustainability, and how to increase awareness of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The competition was organised and run by international enterprise charity, Enactus UK. Founded in 2001, Enactus works with schools and universities to develop a national network of socially minded young leaders who can transform communities and society through real life social action and environmentally responsible enterprise.
The competition received entries from more than 20 teams of university students from across the UK, and the finalists included the University of Durham, Nottingham Trent University, Southampton University, City University, and the University of Sussex.
Dominus Real Estate partnered with Enactus UK to support the initiative because it recognised the importance both of inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs to tackle challenging social problems as well as the role that businesses must play in creating a greener, sustainable and more responsible economy.
After Jay Ahluwalia provided a warm introduction to all the students, the final was judged by Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, Chairman of Dominus; Robin Lassiter and Andrew Bacon of Enactus; Patrick Fitzgibbon of Hilton International, and Jordan Greenaway of Transmission Private.
One team presenting their idea of turning waste bread into craft beer
Projects that reached the final included a business that collected waste bread from local supermarket bakeries to turn into a craft beer for sale; a company that upcycled second-hand clothing into affordable adaptive clothing for customers with special needs and requirements; and a school workshops programme for young people to learen about sustainability.
Another team created a partnership with local shops to recover unattractive fruit and turn them into jams, spreads, conserves and other products, and the last finalist created a schools programme to teach young people about sustainability while, at the same time, selling carbon consultancy services.
“I’m delighted to see so many young entrepreneurs and social activists getting involved in this competition. When it comes to sustainability, we have to tackle the problem of waste – and fresh ideas will be absolutely vital to our success.”
Jay Ahluwalia, Director of Dominus.
