BBC radio has been catching up with the Loughborough College students who took the crown at this year’s national Young Enterprise Start-Up Company of the Year competition.
Harry Rudkin and Jonah Boyce appeared live with the College’s Business Management Degree lead Iqbal Ullah on Ben Jackson’s show to talk about the win for their fledgling business 3-Six Sports – which now takes them to next month’s European finals in Helsinki.
Iqbal told Ben that the product the pair have developed perfectly embodies one of the central principals the College teaches students about enterprise - to find a simple solution to an everyday problem. “They’re both rugby players and their product is something which makes things easier for them.
“In most cases we are attracted to a product or service not just because of the product or service but because of the people behind it as well. Harry and Jonah have formed a perfect partnership. The judges in this competition said a key to the lads’ success had been that they really understand what it is that they’re trying to do.”
“We’ve been playing rugby for a long time and we always found it very frustrating removing boot studs,” explained Harry, 22, who is studying for a BSc (Hons) in Sport Science with Management at Loughborough College. “The things that were available would break or we’d have to use pliers and they’d damage the studs … so we thought of a product to fix the problem. It’s a reliable and durable stud tightening tool which is universal as well.”
Jonah, also 22 and on the same degree course with the College, continued: “We found from our market research that from juniors up rugby players across the board were facing this problem and we worked really hard on developing our solution.”
But non-disclosure meant the pair couldn’t go into too much detail. “I can’t say anything. It’s really good though!” laughed Harry.
Hear Jonah, Harry and Iqbal on BBC Radio Leicester 12.04 into the show here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p053mlnn#play
Pictured: (left to right) Loughborough College degree students Harry Rudkin and Jonah Boyce of 3-Six Sports at their trade stand with their trophies after winning Young Enterprise Start-Up Company of the Year 2017 – as well as Best Presentation and, for Harry, Student of the Year