SBS student wins Future Business Leader of the Year award

Lynne Howie with TV presenter Fiona Bruce and Mars representative Julie Digby

Strathclyde Business School student Lynne Howie was announced as winner of the Future Business Leader of the Year Award at the TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2015 at a gala ceremony in London on April 24.

Over 100 undergraduates were shortlisted for the awards which are now in their sixth year. They feature 12 prestigious awards, each sponsored by a prominent graduate recruiter and each offering fantastic prizes for the winner, including paid internships, trips abroad and meetings with senior executives. This year’s competition attracted over 3,500 entries from undergraduates studying at 140 different universities.

Lynne, who is studying Business Economics and Finance and was selected for a Saltire internship in Texas last year, went through a series of online tests, application forms, interviews and assessment exercises, to emerge as winner. She is delighted with her award win in the category sponsored by Mars which means she gets a summer internship and a trip to one of Mars's international offices. She said, "I am so pleased to have won the award of Future Business Leader 2015 at the Undergraduate of the Year Awards in London. It was a fantastic event held in East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, and it was such a pleasure to hear Fiona Bruce speak - and then meet her in person!

"The room was buzzing with some of Britain's brightest and best talents accompanied by some of the leading UK businesses. Mars sponsored my particular award and as a result I'm lucky enough to receive a paid internship and a trip to visit Mars operations in Dubai. Although the series of online testing, written applications, telephone and face-to-face interviews were challenging, it was a fantastic process through which my family and my dissertation advisor, Dr Rodolphe Desbordes, supported me throughout.

"The award was brought to my attention by Strathclyde Careers Service back in November. The 'Future Business Leader' category caught my eye because I intend to channel my ambition and my BA Business Economics and Finance degree into a 'business with heart'. When I saw the criteria for the award I asked myself, 'What's the difference between myself and the eventual winner? What characteristics do they have, and if I'm capable of developing them, why can't that winner be me?' This attitude drove me to complete the first application and the excitement of completing each stage built on my enthusiasm and determination to see it through."

Dr Rodolphe Desbordes, Department of Economics, said, "It is great news that Lynne has won the Future Business Leader award. Lynne is an excellent student and this award is testament to the hard work and commitment she puts in to everything she does. I'm sure we will continue to hear great things from her in the future."

This award was one of twelve presented on the day and each award was sponsored by a top graduate recruiter: Mars, Laing O’Rourke, E.ON, EDF Energy, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Rolls-Royce, Gazprom, L’Oreal, ACCA, EU Careers, CGI and Mayer Brown.

The TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards seek to identify and celebrate the UK's best undergraduates, through a series of challenging online tests and assessment centres. The final shortlist of ten for each award was invited to a ceremony in London where the winners were announced by the leading TV journalist and presenter Fiona Bruce.

James Nugent, Graduate Programme Manager at sponsors CGI said, "During the process we have been particularly impressed by the quality and diversity of the students and the energy and passion they have."

Negin Lankarani, Graduate Recruitment Manager at sponsors L'Oréal, said, "The team at L'Oreal have been impressed by the calibre of the applicants, and would like to extend a huge congratulations to all who reached the Finals of TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2015."

This is the second year running that Strathclyde Business School has achieved success at the awards - last year's winner of the Scotland Undergraduate of the Year category was marketing student Jamie Cooper-Higgins.