Students from across Belfast have been celebrating after successfully running a business for a day last month and raising money for charity in the process.
The budding entrepreneurs took part in the Mex-imum Business Challenge, a student enterprise initiative organised by Belfast City Council with the support of Belfast Metropolitan College, Queen`s University, the University of Ulster, St Mary`s College and Stranmillis College.
Four teams were tasked with running Mexican eaterie Boojum in the city’s Botanic Avenue over four days with all profits donated to the Make-A-Wish charity in Belfast. Together they raised raising £2,528 though the winning team was called Guapo, tand they raised £1,400.
The other three teams who got through to the final of the competition were Team Burrito and Booj-uums from the University of Ulster and Team Acorn, made up of students from QUB and the UU.
All of the students were presented with certificates at a special ceremony in the City Hall by Councillor Maire Hendron from the council’s Development Committee.
Congratulating the young entrepreneurs, she said: “The Mex-imum Business Challenge is a wonderful initiative as it gives our students and would-be entrepreneurs the chance to gain unrivalled enterprise experience from running a real business for a day and seeing the challenges and rewards that this brings.
“The students get to explore all aspects of business from maintaining good customer service and marketing their business to attract more customers to boosting their profit margins with all proceeds from each day’s trading going to charity.
“Our city’s young entrepreneurs are bursting with talent and enthusiasm, something that the Council hope to encourage and develop in the years to come to ensure Belfast is a vibrant, sustainable and innovative city.
“This initiative is also a good example of the public, private and voluntary sectors working together to develop innovative ways to encourage business skills and acumen,” she added.
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Councillor Maire Hendron from Belfast City Council, John Blisard from Boojum, Gail McKee from Make-A-Wish Foundation