Nationwide success for enterprising alumnus

As this year’s Enterprise Awards are launched, the winner of last year’s Student Entrepreneurship Award, David Ferguson, has recently signed a deal with a major DIY retail chain to sell his innovative loft storage solution across the UK.

The product, Loft Storage Stilts (http://loftstoragestilts.com), will make it simple for a person to create a raised storage platform in their loft, therefore allowing them to have loft space fully insulated to government standards without losing any storage space. Before Loft Storage Stilts were available, the only way to retain valuable storage space in a loft would have been to only partially insulate the loft or buy timber and raise the height of the existing joists in the loft – an expensive and difficult task.

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David said: “When I originally had the idea for Loft Storage Stilts I thought I’d be able to develop, patent and get the product into the stores within six months. It’s now almost two years to the day and I have finally got there but it has been a long rollercoaster of a journey and beepurple has really helped me turn my prototype into a marketable product. The deal with B&Q is really exciting for us as they are the market leader for DIY products in the UK and have a great reputation.”

This year, the awards become The Santander University of Brighton Enterprise Awards, as Santander Universities are kindly sponsoring £10,000 worth of cash prizes. The competition is open to students and alumni (who have graduated within the last five years). In addition to cash prizes, winners will also receive support to help further develop their entries and help turn those ideas into reality.

There are three categories which you can enter as a student or alumnus:

  • the most innovative product award is for the most innovative idea for a product with commercial potential
  • the most entrepreneurial service award is for the most entrepreneurial idea for a service with commercial potential
  • the most enterprising community project award with social and/or environmental benefit.

The awards are organised by the enterprise team within the University of Brighton’s Careers Service. Clare Griffiths, business development manager (entrepreneurship) said: “The quality of applications and the inventiveness of ideas never fail to impress and is a real testament to the creativity and ingenuity of our students and alumni. But it’s not just me who recognises their talent, last year also saw entrants shortlisted in national awards like the Metro’s Venture Candy competition and I am very excited to see what this year’s awards will bring.”

The deadline for applications is Friday 2 March 2012 and full details on eligibility and entry can be found at www.brighton.ac.uk/careers/enterprise/enterprise-awards.