North Wales students become business champions

Winning Team: Ysgol y BerwynBangor University’s Business School recently hosted an event in conjunction with The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) that saw sixth form students work together on an exciting business challenge.

The students came from all over north Wales and working as teams, they roleplayed as a business advisory team for a successful fictional professional services firm. They worked together to analyse the business’ strengths and weaknesses in the current economic and social environment. They also came up with several strategies to deal with potential opportunities and threats. All teams presented their strategies to a panel of judges made up of practising accountants from the industry.

During the event, the teams were mentored by third year and postgraduate students from the Business School.

Sara Closs-Davies, Lecturer in Accounting at the Business School and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, said: “This was a unique and exciting opportunity for year 12 students to work on practical problems and issues that real businesses face in today’s climate.” 

“At Bangor Business School we are passionate about developing our students’ employability skills and knowledge to prepare them towards a fruitful and stable career path after their graduation. With the focus on employability, together with top quality excellence in teaching and research, most of our students are successful at getting a professional job immediately after graduating. The event was a great success and it was wonderful to see such a range of talented and enthusiastic students working together to develop their skills.”

The winning team was from Ysgol y Berwyn, Y Bala; their teacher Sharon Jones said: “This was a great opportunity for our students and we are very grateful to Bangor University and ICEAW for organising the event.”

Rebecca Crowther, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for year 12 students across north Wales to gain an insight into the accountancy, finance and business world, meet industry experts and develop key employability skills for the future. ICAEW were delighted to work with Bangor University Business School on the event and meet young talented individuals who could be the next generation of business leaders.”

The participating schools were – Ysgol y Berwyn, St Gerard’s School Trust (Runners Up), Prestatyn High School, Rydal Penrhos School, Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern, Ysgol Friars and Eirias School.

Publication date: 20 October 2016