Member Article

Five is a magic number for Blueprint

The Blueprint Awards is launching its 2008 competition with a bang this year as the university business planning competition celebrates its fifth birthday. Now in its fifth year the Blueprint Business Planning Competition brings together all five North East universities to develop business ideas from the region’s graduates, undergraduates, staff and alumni.

Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities each hold their own business planning competitions throughout the year and the winners go forward to compete in the Blueprint Grand Final. Entrants receive advice in the first rounds to help them turn their ideas into practical business plans.

The competition was originally devised by Professors Max Robinson and Brian Tanner as part of the North East Centre for Scientific Enterprise (NECSE) project between the five regional universities.

Professor Tanner said: “I am both thrilled and proud that Blueprint is now in its fifth year and is getting stronger each year. Every year we are overwhelmed with the standard of the business entries and the amount of pure business talent that is generated from this region.

“Max and I hope to see lots of business supporters and new talent help us celebrate our 5th Birthday. This year our final awards dinner will be a true birthday celebration! Congratulations to all who have ever been involved in Blueprint in one way or another and Happy Birthday.”

Key sponsors for this year include ONE Northeast, Dickinson Dees, NStar, Musa Fine Art, Baker Tilly and bgroup. For more about the event in October, or to find out about sponsorship opportunities, contact Jill Flowers on 0191 334 3210.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .