A team of 4 MBA students from Strathclyde Business School was one of the five teams from Europe to make it into the finals of the 'M&S Retail Sustainability Challenge' which was held in London at Marks & Spencer's Headquarters on April 12 and 13.
The challenge was open to teams of students from management schools across the UK and has been created to encourage future managers to consider sustainability in business practice as well as a catalyst for new ideas.
The Strathclyde Business School team – Anasun – which made it to the finals was made up of Achyut Gandham, Amit Bhargava, Suchi Mathur and Viju Thomas, and they had to progress successfully through two initial rounds of the competition to get to the final.
The participant teams were mentored by senior M&S personnel, experienced in sustainable research and development, innovation, product development and marketing. In addition, entrepreneurs, representatives from NGOs, academia, media and Marks & Spencer were part of a judging panel, which was chaired by David Grayson CBE from Cranfield University School of Management.
Unfortunately, the Strathclyde team was not successful, but found it a rewarding experience. The winners were named as Warwick (1st) and Lancaster (2nd) and the winning team was awarded a prize of £5,000.
More information on the Challenge is available here.