Vehicle maintenance student wins ‘Best Researched Award’ at the UHI Business Competition
Charlotte Smith, Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair student at Moray College UHI has won an award for Best Researched business idea after pitching to a panel of the region’s top business and enterprise professionals on Thursday.
The University of the Highlands and Islands’ Business Competition is run by CREATE, its Centre for Enterprise and Innovation based at Inverness College UHI.
The competition has a number of categories and attracted 110 entries, including 82 from students across the University of the Highlands and Islands partnership. It is now in its 13th year and supports and encourages entrepreneurship within the university but also across the wider the Highlands and Islands.
Five awards including ‘Best Researched’ were sponsored by the Engineering in Business Fellowship (EIBF) to mark the Year of Engineering and in recognition of the importance of entrepreneurship in engineering. The charity promotes the value of business education for engineers.
Charlotte’s idea is based around her setting up her own business as a mobile mechanic in Moray, providing basic repair, servicing and pre-MOT checks at a location of the customer’s convenience.
She would add value to the business by providing basic car maintenance classes (changing wheels/checking oil) for new drivers to give them confidence and knowledge when dealing with garages.
Charlotte said: “Over the past year, I’ve spoken to a lot of people, particularly women, who have had difficult encounters with garages and who would be keen to try a female mechanic, the classes would empower car users when dealing with mechanics and their own car”.
Charlotte was also awarded a prize fund of £600.
Paul Rochford, lecturer at Moray College UHI said: “We are all delighted for Charlotte, this is a fantastic achievement. She will be able to use the skills learned at college to make her business idea a reality”.