Business Challenge Week 2022

How can my organisation benefit?

We have many talented students at Brookes, across the full range of disciplines. The Business Challenge Week will allow a specially built team to crack a problem you have been wrestling with, or simply bring you new ideas and a fresh perspective.

Depending on the challenge, we can promise you:

• A thorough analysis of your problem or opportunity
• Background research and fact-finding
• A solution, prototype or action plan
• A short report on findings and recommendations
• An invitation to the end-of-week showcase on 15 July

Which organisations are eligible?

Organisations large and small, profit and non-profit, can take part (social enterprises are particularly welcome).

You just need to have a challenge that a team of students can work on for three or four days, leading to some meaningful problem-solving and idea generation. This could be something quite strategic, like rethinking your business model; or it could be more technical, such as the development of an algorithm for customer profiling. It could also be highly creative, such as developing ideas for a new product, service, event or public engagement.

What’s required of us – and is there a cost?

No, it’s absolutely free. You just need to be available (online) ahead of 11-15 July to brief the team. You’ll also need to be able to drop in on a day-to-day basis to provide input, advice and feedback as work progresses. For more technical projects, you may also need to provide anonymized datasets for the students to work with.

What last year’s partners said:

4/5 agreed the students had met or exceeded their expectations. One partner noted the work had ‘significantly’ impacted their thinking about the future, with a further partner commending the students’ ‘valuable insights’ into applicable markets and countries. Another partner said this:

“Our team was fabulous – they brought fresh ideas to our marketing approach and helped us identify a starting target market. Their contributions were invaluable.”  

Last year’s partners included a range of businesses and social enterprises, including:

• The business networking organisation B4, where students developed insights into issues and opportunities for market expansion
• Stephen Spencer + Associates, for which, in collaboration with Blenheim Palace, the students tested new frameworks for understanding customer journeys
• The ‘memory legacy’ company After Cloud, whose app-based service model was analysed by the students, leading to a range of operational and marketing recommendations 
• The educational company Edumenteach, for which the students helped to generate new ideas for a new service supporting a digital repository for academic and training certification 

How to get in touch

Please email Dr Paul Jackson on pjackson@brookes.ac.uk and we will arrange a date and time for an initial chat.  

While we can’t guarantee to include all interested parties, the sooner you get in touch, the more likely we’ll be able to find a team to respond to your challenge.